Lesson Overview

Students will investigate how much energy is contained in a gallon of diesel and in a gallon of gasoline. Then they will compare the energy density of various fuel types. Using conversion factors and estimations, they will rank fuel types on a spectrum.

Target Grades: 9-12

Set Up Time: 20 minutes

Class Time: 1-2 hours

Lesson Resources

Objectives

  1. Define power and the variables needed to calculate it.
  2. Describe energy density and its importance to your home and community energy use.

Guiding question: Why have diesel and gasoline been used so extensively in Alaska?

Educational Standards

ALASKA CULTURAL STANDARDS: B3, B4

ALASKA ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS: 11/12 RST.KI.1-2; 9/10/11/12 RST.CS.4-5; 9/10/11/12 RST.IKI.7; 9/10/11/12 WSLST.PDW.4

ALASKA MATHEMATICS STANDARDS: HS.N-Q.1-2; HS.S-IC.3,4,5

ENERGY LITERACY CONCEPTS: 1.1, 1.7, 1.8, 4.1

NGSS: HS-PS3-1

Lesson preparation:
  • Download the presentation and student worksheet (from “Lesson Resources” dropdown above)
  • Decide how and where you want the students to do the activity, and update the presentation with that information.
  • Optional: Research what ANCSA region you are in and the main investments the corporations have (many are oil and gas related, and may be controversial). This can be used as a hook and connection to local issues. Add information to the presentation.
  • Optional: Research electricity rates in your community and the price per kilowatt hour – update in the presentation.
  • Read the Background information below.
Materials:
  • One worksheet per student.
  • One calculator per student.
  • One stopwatch per group of 3-4 students.
  • Books or other heavy items for students to move.
  • Access to a set of stairs or a sturdy table.

When a large reserve of crude oil was found in Alaska’s North Slope in the 1960s, the federal government wanted to build a pipeline to get the oil to the port of Valdez and therefore to market. However, there were outstanding legal issues surrounding land claims of Alaska Natives along the proposed route. The unique solution passed in 1971 was the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which “divided Alaska into twelve regions defined by the common heritage and shared interests of the indigenous peoples within each geographic area.” (ancsaregional.com) Each of the 12 regions now has a corporation in charge of managing this land and sharing the profits from the management to its shareholders and other corporations. This connection between Indigenous land rights and oil are an important part of Alaska’s history and continue to shape the politics and culture of the state. Some aspects of ANCSA remain controversial, including investment in oil and gas extraction. Check out Additional Resources to learn more about ANCSA and its connection to oil and gas.

Whether you love them or hate them, fossil fuels are an important part of everyday life for many Alaskans, and the amount of concentrated energy that fossil fuels contain (energy density) is often under appreciated. Many Alaskan communities depend on diesel to fuel generators that produce all of their electricity. Gasoline is important for powering vehicles such as cars, 4-wheelers, and snowmachines. Other important Alaskan energy sources include coal and wood energy. This lesson explores why we use diesel and gasoline throughout the state, despite their costs and negative impacts.

 

British Thermal Unit (BTU) – A unit used to measure energy. It is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit and it is equivalent to 1055 joules. A BTU is approximately the amount of energy that one match stick gives off.

Coal– A fossil fuel formed from dead organisms (mainly ancient plants) that were buried underground under heat and pressure for millions of years. Coal is classified depending on its properties, including how much energy it contains. The four main types of coal (from oldest and most energy dense to youngest and least energy dense) are anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite.

Crude Oil – A liquid fossil fuel formed from dead organisms (usually zooplankton and algae) that were buried underground under heat and pressure for millions of years. Crude oil is a mixture of different lengths of hydrocarbons (long molecular chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms) that can be separated out depending on the length of the hydrocarbons to produce fuels, including diesel, heating oil, and gasoline.

Energy – The ability of a system to do work; this might refer to either potential or kinetic energy.  Potential energy (stored energy) includes chemical, mechanical, nuclear, and gravitational energy. Kinetic energy (motion energy) includes radiant, thermal, motion, sound, and electrical energy.

Energy Density – The amount of BTUs available per unit, such as gallons or pounds.

Joule (j)–  A unit used to measure energy. It is equal to the force of one newton on an object acting through a distance of one meter.

Power – The rate at which work is performed or energy is converted; units of power include both an amount of energy and a length of time.

Gear Up: 
  • Share a local video or story to introduce the lesson, or use one from the Additional Resources.
  • Have students brainstorm the sources of energy that they depend on daily. What uses diesel? What uses gasoline? Heating oil? How would their lives be different if they no longer had access to diesel or gasoline?
  • Show the slideshow with different vehicles’ weight and miles per gallon. Ask students if they would be willing to push the vehicle that many miles for the price of one gallon of gas. 
Activity
  • In this activity, students will apply the experience of doing physical work to the amount of work diesel and other fuels do for us.
  • Discuss the different definitions of energy and power with the students; while energy and power are often used interchangeably in layman’s terms, they are two different (though related) concepts when applied to physical science. (A Ted-Ed video on this is embedded in the presentation but also in Additional Resources if you have issues with it).
  • Distribute one copy of the Diesel and Gasoline: Energy Heavyweights student worksheet.
  • Divide the class into groups of 3 to 4 students per group. Tell them they will be competing against each other to see how much power each group can do by racing 5-gallon buckets of water up stairs in a relay.  
  • The teams can take turns using the stairs to do a relay for a set number of flights (set it up so each student does the flight of stairs two or three times). Record the time it takes for each team to do the same amount of “work” (carrying the buckets of water up and down a set number of stairs). If accessibility is an issue, you can also have students lift buckets a certain number of times onto a table.
  • Use the equation on the student worksheet to calculate how much work was done (same for each group), and the power rating for each group (work/time).  
  • Wrap up:
    • Discuss how diesel and gasoline are used in your community, and how much work gets done because of it (including heating homes, providing transportation, and generating electricity).
    • Discuss the importance of using less energy through efficiency and conservation.
Extensions
  • Have students investigate energy prices in their community and answer the questions:
    • How do you standardize the costs? (price per BTU)
    • What is the most affordable energy and what is the most costly? (in absolute numbers and in price per BTU).
    • Why is electricity often one of the more expensive types of energy available? 
    • How is electricity produced in your community? 
  • Complete the AK EnergySmart “Value of a Tree” lesson where each student measures the circumference of a tree and inputs it into a spreadsheet to determine the amount of carbon and BTUs in the tree.
Evaluation
  • Students are able to explain what power is and what information they need to calculate it.
  • Students successfully complete the worksheet, answering questions reflecting on the importance of energy sources and density.