Diana Simpson

Seton Catholic Central High School

Binghamton, NY 13905

apchem56@hotmail.com

INTRODUCTION

Debate over energy and its use in the state of New York is always a hot topic. There are a lot of power sources that could be utilized: wind power, biomass, fossil fuels, renewable resources, and Nuclear Power plants. Many people feel that one type of fuel or a combination of types is better than another type of fuel. Fossil fuels are running out. At current usages: coal will last 150 years (50 years if China keeps increasing her usage), natural gas will last 65 years and oil will last 40 years!

TASK

The New York State Legislature is in the process of determining if New York should become totally Nuclear Power dependent or Go Green. You are part of a subcommittee of four selected to make a Power Point presentation to the Legislature about Nuclear Power. Most of your audience knows NOTHING about science and Nuclear Power in particular. Your committee must educate them by starting with the very basic of information about nuclear energy and building up to Nuclear Power with all of the good and bad. Your committee must take a stand on this issue and make a recommendation to the Legislature to go with Nuclear Power or Go Green! Each of your committee members must speak for at least one minute of your 5 minute presentation. You will be timed and at the end of five minutes, the microphone will be turned off. There will be daily hand-ins consisting of the worksheets in the SPPA process and the final Power Point presentation will be submitted in study guide format for the Legislature to peruse.

PROCESS

You will use the SPPA process to work on this presentation.

This will entail: defining the problem, gathering the evidence, identifying the causes of the problem, evaluating the existing policies, creating 3 new policies or solutions and then choosing the best solution based upon its feasibility and effectiveness for your presentation. The best solution will be your Power Point presentation. Make sure you have looked over the rubric in the Evaluation section so that you have covered all of your bases.

RESOURCES

Nuclear Energy in NY State Legal Planet

New York Times Keeping Green

Green Energy Choice Biomass

Fuel Cells Nuclear video

The Globalist

EVALUATION

	5	4	3	2	1	0
Worksheet1	Completely filled in, no cross outs or misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs, no misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs and misspellings	Not completely filled in, cross outs and/or misspellings	Turned in late or not filled out completely, cross outs, misspellings	Not turned in
Worksheet2	Completely filled in, no cross outs or misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs, no misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs and misspellings	Not completely filled in, cross outs and/or misspellings	Turned in late or not filled out completely, cross outs, misspellings	Not turned in
Worksheet3	Completely filled in, no cross outs or misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs, no misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs and misspellings	Not completely filled in, cross outs and/or misspellings	Turned in late or not filled out completely, cross outs, misspellings	Not turned in
Worksheet4	Completely filled in, no cross outs or misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs, no misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs and misspellings	Not completely filled in, cross outs and/or misspellings	Turned in late or not filled out completely, cross outs, misspellings	Not turned in
Worksheet5	Completely filled in, no cross outs or misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs, no misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs and misspellings	Not completely filled in, cross outs and/or misspellings	Turned in late or not filled out completely, cross outs, misspellings	Not turned in
Worksheet6	Completely filled in, no cross outs or misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs, no misspellings	Completely filled in, some cross outs and misspellings	Not completely filled in, cross outs and/or misspellings	Turned in late or not filled out completely, cross outs, misspellings	Not turned in
Slides in PPt	10	9-8	7-6	5-4	3-2	More than 10
Visuals	Colorful, eye catching, No mistakes	Colorful, eye catching, 1 or 2 mistakes	Slightly colorful or eye catching, 3-6 mistakes	Slightly colorful or eye catching, 7-10 mistakes	Not colorful or not eye catching, > 10 mistakes	Not done
Participation	All participate equally	Most (n-1) participate, equally	All participate, not equally	Most (n-1) participate, not equally	Some participate, not equally	Not done
Oral presentation	All group members participate, topic fully covered, no mistakes in content	Most group members participate, topic fully covered, 1 or 2 mistakes in content	Some group members participate, topic mostly covered, more than 2 mistakes in content	Some group members participate, topic not fully covered, half a mole of content mistakes	Group members inert, topic barely touched upon, a mole of content mistakes	Not made, did not participate, absent

CONCLUSION

You have successfully presented your case to the New York State Legislature so that they can now make an informed decision about the energy to be used in the state. And you, too, can now make informed decisions about your energy usage.

STANDARDS

English Language Arts

Standard 1 - Language for Information and Understanding

Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding - As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 3 – Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will present, in oral and written language and from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

Standard 4 – Language for Social Interaction

Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

Math, Science & Technology

Standard 1 – Analysis, Inquiry and Design

Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry and engineering design as appropriate to pose questions, seek answers and develop solutions.

Standard 2 – Information Surveys

Students will access, generate, process and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

Standard 4 - Science

Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in Science.

Standard 6 - Interconnectedness: Common Themes

Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.

Standard 7 - Interdisciplinary Problem Solving

Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.