Hands-on Activity Enough Energy? Play the Renew-a-Bead Game

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Energy Use & Systems
- The Energy Problem
  - Energy Intelligence Agency
  - Energy in Our Lives Carousel
  - Energy Choices Game
  - Energy Perspectives
  - Energy Resources and Systems
    - Enough Energy? Play the Renew-a-Bead Game
    - Energy Sources Research
    - Energy Systems
    Unit Lesson Activity
    
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    - Summary
    - Engineering Connection
    - Learning Objectives
    - Materials List
    - Worksheets and Attachments
    - More Curriculum Like This
    - Introduction/Motivation
    - Procedure
    - Assessment
    - User Comments & Tips
    Summary
    
    The “renew-a-bead game” provides youngsters with a quantitative illustration of how non-renewable resources are depleted while renewable resources continue to provide energy. Student pairs remove beads—representing units of renewable and non-renewable energy—from a bag—representing a country. A certain number of beads are removed from the bag each "year." At some point, no non-renewable (fossil fuel) energy beads remain. Since groups/countries have different ratios of renewable and non-renewable energy beads in their bags, they compare the remaining beads and time when they ran out of energy to see the value of utilizing a greater proportion of renewable resources as a sustainable energy approach. A student worksheet with instructions, data collection table and discussion questions is provided. This engineering curriculum aligns to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
    
    Engineering Connection
    
    Engineers research, develop and design equipment that captures energy from renewable and fossil fuel resources for human use. Given the eventual depletion in fossil fuel resources, engineers design technologies that capture renewable energy resources in more efficient, reliable and economically competitive ways. The bag of beads used in this game represents a physical model of our energy resources. Engineers use models of systems to help them understand the systems, discover problems, and find solutions.
    
    Learning Objectives
    - Explain why an increased dependence on renewable energy sources is an inevitable part of our future.
    - Describe how the depletion of fossil fuels is a serious global issue.
    Educational Standards
    
    Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.
    
    All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).
    
    In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.
    
    NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards - Science
    
    MS-ESS3-4. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems. (Grades 6 - 8)
    
    Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    
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    Scientific knowledge can describe the consequences of actions but does not necessarily prescribe the decisions that society takes.
    
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    Models can be used to represent systems and their interactions.
    
    Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback!
    
    Common Core State Standards - Math
    - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (Grades K - 12) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent. (Grade 6) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Investigate patterns of association in bivariate data. (Grade 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology
    - Energy is the capacity to do work. (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Analyze how different technological systems often interact with economic, environmental, and social systems. (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    State Standards
    
    National Council of Teachers of Mathematics - Math
    - recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics (Grades Pre-K - 12) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - work flexibly with fractions, decimals, and percents to solve problems (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - understand and use ratios and proportions to represent quantitative relationships (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - use graphs to analyze the nature of changes in quantities in linear relationships (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - select, create, and use appropriate graphical representations of data, including histograms, box plot, and scatterplots (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - use observations about differences between two or more samples to make conjectures about the populations from which the samples were taken (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    National Science Education Standards - Science
    - Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence. Students should base their explanation on what they observed, and as they develop cognitive skills, they should be able to differentiate explanation from description--providing causes for effects and establishing relationships based on evidence and logical argument. This standard requires a subject matter knowledge base so the students can effectively conduct investigations, because developing explanations establishes connections between the content of science and the contexts within which students develop new knowledge. (Grades 5 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Use mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry. Mathematics is essential to asking and answering questions about the natural world. Mathematics can be used to ask questions; to gather, organize, and present data; and to structure convincing explanations. (Grades 5 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry. (Grades 5 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Human activities also can induce hazards through resource acquisition, urban growth, land-use decisions, and waste disposal. Such activities can accelerate many natural changes. (Grades 5 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    New York - Math
    - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (Grades Pre-K - 12) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent. (Grade 6) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    - Investigate patterns of association in bivariate data. (Grade 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    New York - Science
    - Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems. (Grades 6 - 8) More DetailsView aligned curriculum Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!
    Materials List
    
    Each group needs:
    - 1 paper bag containing 100 black and white beads, with black beads representing non-renewable energy resources and white beads representing renewable energy resources; the ratio of black to white beads varies by group
    95 black beads + 5 white beads
    
    90 black beads + 10 white beads
    
    80 black beads + 20 white beads
    
    70 black beads + 30 white beads
    - small cloth
    - extra bag
    - calculator
    - Renew-a-Bead Game Worksheet, one per student
    Worksheets and Attachments
    Visit [ www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cla_activity1_renewable ] to print or download.
    Introduction/Motivation
    
    What do we call energy resources that are replenished at the same rate that we use them? (Listen to student answers.) That’s right, we call them renewable energy resources. What are some examples of renewable energy resources? (Listen to student answers.) That’s right; solar, wind, geothermal and tidal energy are good examples. Biomass can be renewable if we use the plant material at the same rate that it grows. If we chop down and burn all the trees in a short period though, that resource is not considered renewable.
    
    If you think about it, fossil fuels may also be considered a form of solar energy because they were generated from biomass materials that existed millions of years ago. But we do not consider them to be renewable because we use them at a MUCH faster rate than they were generated.
    
    The goal of today’s game is to use a model of an energy system to see how important renewable resources are so that our country (represented by the paper bag) does not run out of energy (represented by the beads).
    
    Procedure
    - Count out the colored beads and put them into bags for each group.
    - Organize the rest of the materials for each group.
    - Make copies of the Renew-a-Bead Game Worksheet, one per student.
    With the students:
    1. Divide the class into groups of two students each. Distribute the materials.
    2. Provide context and kick off the game by presenting the Introduction/Motivation content.
    3. Make sure students understand that the bag and beads are intended to represent a country and its energy resources mix; we call this a model.
    4. Expect students to be able to follow the worksheet instructions and complete the tasks.
    5. Class discussion: Regroup and compare answers among the different "countries." Discuss results and takeaways. Suggested questions and topics to cover: