STEM Unit on Energy & Mining

This lesson, from the Northern Wyoming Community College District, focuses on teaching science, technology, engineering, and math concepts through the frame of energy resources and mining. The ten units in the lesson cover scientific notation; area, volume and conversions; fractions, decimals and percentages; exponential functions and regression analysis (for advanced students); the science of energy; chemical reactions and half-life; calculating carbon footprints; identifying technology and machinery; and Auto-CAD. 

The lesson, intended for students in 9th and 10th grade, but can be adapted to teach grades 6 through 8, or more advanced students in grades 11 and 12. The entire lesson takes ten 45-minute class periods to complete, in addition to a whole day field trip, and requires students have basic computing skills, experience with graphing calculators, and basic word processing skills. Upon completion of the lesson, students will have developed an understanding of production and consumption of energy, the differences between renewable and non-renewable energy resources, the process of radioactive decay, the impact of carbon dioxide on the climate, as well as a wealth of STEM concepts and skills. 

Lesson Contents: 

For orientation purposes, viewers should begin with _Energy and Mining Lesson Plan.pdf, which offers a description of the lesson, as well as an overview of topics covered, and learning outcomes. 

Below is a list of the files contained within the .zip attachment. The size of each file is included in parenthesis.

Stem_Unit_On_Energy_&_Mining.zip

• Lesson Plan (_Energy and Mining Lesson Plan 98 KB)
• (Attachment 1 - Gross Tonnage 12KB)
• (Attachment 2 - Mining Machineries Word Search 66KB)
• (Attachment 3 - 2010 WY County Report 76KB)
• (Attachment 4 - 1978 WY County Report 76KB)
• (Attachment 5 - 1995 WY County Report 76KB)
• (Attachment 6 - Scientific Notation 80KB)
• (Attachment 7 - Identifying Solid Figures 22KB)
• (Attachment 8 - Performance Task Rubric 66KB)
• (Attachment 9 - Oral Presentation Rubric 52KB)
• (Attachment 10 - Powerpoint Rubric 407KB)
• (Attachment 11 - Cookie Mining Worksheet 1.7MB)
• (Attachment 12 - Energy Basics and Analysis 3.4MB)