Grade Level: 9th–12th Grade | Duration: 2 days, 50 minutes each

This two-day WebQuest guides high school students through independent research on eight different energy sources, building digital literacy skills while exploring the environmental and human impacts of both renewable and nonrenewable resources. Students use credible online sources to complete a comprehensive graphic organizer, then synthesize their research into an evidence-based written explanation advocating for sustainable energy choices. The lesson culminates in peer discussion and debate, developing students’ ability to communicate scientific positions effectively. The activity addresses multiple Alabama College and Career Ready Science standards related to Earth and Human Activity, including investigating energy sources’ environmental impacts, explaining how natural resources influence human activity, and constructing explanations about the relationships among resource management, sustainability, and biodiversity.

Learning Objectives

Students will research various natural resources used to supply energy for human activity by obtaining and evaluating information from credible online web sources. Students will use their research to construct an evidence-based explanation on the sustainable use of resources and communicate their position effectively to a peer group.

Background & Context

Renewable energy comes from resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale, including wind, solar, geothermal, biofuel, and hydro. Sustainable refers to the concept that these renewable energy resources will always be available and never be depleted.

The sources of non-renewable energy most commonly used today, like coal and natural gas, may meet our current needs, but at the rate we’re using them, we’ll burn through them and leave none behind for future generations. These resources are secured through mining and drilling, and when we use them up, we must dig and drill into the earth for more. In contrast, renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro can never be depleted, making them fully sustainable for both today and tomorrow.

Several factors affect our use of solar energy, including the sun’s position (daily and seasonally), clouds, smoke and smog, trees, buildings, and land surfaces. The sun is renewable energy—abundant, convenient, nonpolluting, and affordable. It is the ultimate energy source.

Day 1 Activities & Structure

Day 2 Activities & Structure

Materials Included

The lesson PDF contains a two-page WebQuest student handout:

Part I: Research Graphic Organizer

• Name field
• Table with rows for eight energy sources: biofuels, fossil fuels, geothermal, hydroelectric, natural gas, nuclear, solar, and wind
• Five columns for each source: “Is this resource renewable or nonrenewable?”, “Provide a description or diagram/image of how this resource is used”, “How does this resource influence human activity?”, “What environmental impact does the use of this resource have?”, and “List your reference(s) here”

Part II: Evidence-based Explanation

• Name field
• Writing prompt asking students to select one or two sustainable energy resources and explain in 2–3 paragraphs how their proper use can contribute to human sustainability and protect biodiversity
• Large open response area for written explanation

Materials Required

For each student:

• Access to iPad, laptop, or computer lab (activity can be completed with textbooks but is designed for online research to build digital literacy skills)
• Pages from the “Exploring Energy Sources WebQuest” file (can be distributed digitally for electronic completion or printed for handwriting)

For the classroom:

• 2 boxes or trays for the Engage activities
• 4 index cards labeled: “Renewable,” “Nonrenewable,” “Sustainable,” and “Non-sustainable”
• Sticky notes or scrap paper for student responses

Extension Activity

The lesson includes optional chants and hand motions (adapted from NEED.org) for each energy source, providing a kinesthetic memory aid. Renewable energy chants cover biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind. Nonrenewable energy chants cover coal, natural gas, petroleum, propane, and uranium. Each chant includes specific hand motions that reinforce the concept—for example, making big arm circles like a wind turbine while chanting “Energy is flowin’ in the WIND!” or clapping and spreading hands apart during “URANIUM, URANIUM—split goes the atom!”