Activity
Day 1:
1. Have students go to the Natural Resource Defense Council web site:
http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/default.asp and complete the following:
a. Browse the web page to list 5 environmental health issues that are described.
For each issue students must record: the issue and the title of the article that
discusses the issue.
b. List two government organizations that you identified from the page.
c. Describe the specific activities of the two agencies you identified.
2.
Have students go to the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/energy/
to browse the page in order to answer the following:
a. Describe the President’s energy policy.
b. What is the potential impact of his policy on the environment? List both
positive and negative effects.
c. Which groups are responsible for helping the President develop and enforce
energy policy?
Day
2: Case Study on Nuclear Power
1. Hand out the article: “About Yucca Mountain Standards” from:
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/yucca/about.htm
2.
Students will work in small groups to:
a)
List the 1) departments 2) agencies and 3) commissions
that are mentioned
in the article.
b) Discuss the responsibilities that the bureaucracy (departments and
agencies), the Congress and the President have in dealing with the Yucca
Mountain nuclear
waste site.
c) Describe the major issues surrounding the Yucca Mountain debate.
3.
Hand out the article: “Oak Ridge Contamination
even worse than feared” from:
http://www.tennessean.com/sii/longterm/oakridge/part2/stories/worse.shtml
4.
Ask student groups to use the information in the articles
they read: “About
Yucca Mountain Standards” and “Oak Ridge Contamination
even worse than feared” to answer the following:
a)
List 4 potential hazards that the Energy Department must
address if it intends to open
the Yucca Mountain waste disposal site by 2010.
b) Using the information from these articles, make an appeal to the
Secretary of Energy (the teacher) on behalf of the state of Nevada
to challenge
the site’s
environmental impact on Yucca Mountain.
c) (On a sheet of butcher paper) Identify the main arguments that
support your position. Each group will present their arguments to
the class
and the Secretary
of Energy (teacher).
Closure
Class discussion on the following:
1. What are the major functions of the president, bureaucracy (departments
and agencies) and congress in developing and enforcing energy policy?
2. How can private citizens take part in the process? Embedded
Assessment
Results of student computer research and the case study should reflect an
understanding of the major groups involved with energy policy and concerns
that must be addressed.
Homework
None.
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