Energy and Power

Big Idea:

The design of power and energy systems is influenced by cultural, social, economic, political, and environmental concerns.

Purpose of Lesson:

To enable students to analyze the functioning and applications of power and energy technology systems.

“What is the designed world?” The designed world is the product of the

design process that provides ways to turn resources into products and systems .

The areas of technology

Medical Technologies Agricultural and Biotechnologies Energy and Power Technologies Information and Communication

Technologies Transportation Technologies Manufacturing Technologies Construction Technologies

Can You

recall the definition of technological design?

Technological Design is the process of converting

resources—materials, tools and machines, people, information, energy, capital, and time—into products and systems.

working in pairs, think about and then list some technology systems that provide us with power and energy

Share

Student teams will share their lists of technology systems that provide us with power and energy.

Facts about Energy and Power More than 85 percent of total world

energy consumption is through the use of fossil fuels.

Petroleum leads with 37.5 percent of the world’s total energy consumption, followed by coal (25.6 percent) and natural gas (23.1 percent).

Exploration

working in teams of two, do some preliminary research to identify technology systems that support the production and distribution of energy that comes from fossil fuels.

Fuel resources are usually considered non-renewable because they are not able to be created or used again.

Explanation

There are some basic science concepts on which power and energy systems are developed such as:Energy is the ability to do work.Energy is one of the basic resources used

by a technological system.Energy cannot be created nor destroyed;

however, it can be converted from one form to another.

Science Concepts Cont. Energy can be grouped into major forms:

thermal, radiant, electrical, mechanical, chemical, nuclear, and others.

It is impossible to build an engine to perform work that does not exhaust thermal energy to the surroundings.

Energy resources can be renewable or nonrenewable.

Industrialization brings an increased demand for and use of energy

Think, Pair, Share The increased use of energy contributes

to the high standard of living in the industrially developing nations but also leads to more rapid depletion of the earth’s energy resources and to environmental risks associated with the use of fossil and nuclear fuels.

list some personal strategies they might employ to slow the depletion of energy resources.

Areas of analysis in understanding the functioning and applications of power and energy systems

Statement of need (What is the system supposed to do?)

Major components (What are the subsystems?)

Basic system design (How are the components or subsystems connected and

how do they interact?) Controls

(What are the mechanisms that use information to cause the system to change?)

Analysis Considerations Continued Engineering resources employed

(Mechanical, Fluid, Thermal, Electrical, etc.)

System performance evaluation (What processes are used to determine system performance?)

Social, cultural, and political impacts (How does the technology affect peoples’ lives?)

Environmental impact (How does the technology affect the environment?)

Example

Open swisherc.pbworks.com and review tr_5.1.1-1.doc which is located under unit 5 lesson 1 and provides an example of function and application analysis.

Extension Pick one of the following topics to make a presentation

on. Water Energy Converters (turbines) Wind energy converters (windmills and turbines Solar Energy Converters (passive and active systems) Geothermal Energy Converters (geothermal heat

pumps) Ocean Energy Converters (tidal power and wave power) Thermochemical Energy Converters (direct combustion,

pyrolysis, and liquefaction) Biochemical Energy Converters (Anaerobic digestion g.

and fermentation) Electrical Energy Converters (generating and

distribution sytems)

Students will address the following topics in their analyses. Statement of need (What is the system supposed to do?) Major components (What are the subsystems?) Basic system design (How are the components or

subsystems connected and how do they interact?) Controls (What are the mechanisms that use information

to cause the system to change?) Engineering resources employed (Mechanical, Fluid,

Thermal, Electrical, etc.) System performance evaluation (What processes are

used to determine system performance?) Social, cultural, economic, and political impacts (How

does the technology affect peoples’ lives?) Environmental impact (How does the technology affect

the environment?)