Assess the environmental and economic impacts of using non-renewable and renewable forms of energy. Through a guided hike, students will visit the old Beare Landfill site in the Rouge Valley. The methane gas (biogas) being collected there creates about 5MW of electricity. Students will learn about the role of radiation in heating and cooling the earth, and explain how greenhouse gases affect the transmission of radiated heat through the atmosphere. Also, students will identify common sources of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide comes from plant and animal respiration and the burning of fossil fuels; methane comes from wetlands, grazing livestock, termites, fossil fuel extraction, and landfills; nitrous oxide comes from soils and nitrogen fertilizers), and describe ways of reducing emissions of these gases.

Target Audience: Grade 7 (Age 12-13).  

Offered: Year round.

Program Length: Full Day - generally 3.5 hrs (10AM-1:30 PM) unless otherwise noted. Students will have lunch by the river.  

Overall Goals

1. assess the costs and benefits of technologies that reduce heat loss or heat-related impacts on the environment;

2. investigate ways in which heat changes substances, and describe how heat is transferred;

3. demonstrate an understanding of heat as a form of energy that is associated with the movement of particles and is essential to many processes within the earth’s systems.