Teachers notes

Overview

This lesson has been designed to give Key Stage 4 pupils an opportunity to revise work on fossil fuels and climate change, and at the same time appreciate the impact of science on our everyday lives.

The lesson has been designed as a ‘stand alone lesson’ for use as revision in a single lesson, though suggestions are made for follow-up activities which could be used in a subsequent lesson.

Lesson aims

This lesson enables students to:

  • Revise/recap work on fossil fuels and climate change
  • Appreciate the impact of human activity on our surroundings
  • Appreciate the role of chemical engineering within our everyday lives

Citizenship Lesson

Activity 1 – starter activity

  • 10 MCQ questions on fossil fuels/climate chance completed online by the student
  • Students get a score at the end which the teacher can view


Activity 2 – main lesson

Pupils are given an e-mail style ‘brief’ from the chief executive of a power company and are asked to research 3 different fuels and produce a memo to explain which fuel they think the company should invest in and why.

There are 3 components to the main lesson:

1. Introduction - E-mail style ‘brief’ from power company chief executive. 
2. Research - Students have information on 3 fuels as attachment documents:

  • Fuel A - Hydrocarbon 
  • Fuel B - Controversial renewable (Wind power) 
  • Fuel C - Hydrogen cell 
    (Students complete worksheet 2 to produce their own summary of the pros and cons of each fuel type).


3. Students draft a summary memo for the chief executive outlining which fuel they would choose and why (giving at least 3 reasons).

Useful tips! Students can complete their summary memo by writing directly onto worksheet 3 or alternatively they can type it into the memo proforma online.

Plenary

  • Students explain their decision to a partner (and vice versa)
  • Teacher selects individuals to report their partner's decision to the class


A subsequent lesson could involve the students using their research from this lesson to:

  • Write a newspaper article on the issues covered
  • Take part in a whole-class debate
  • Work in small groups to produce a poster which they could present to the rest of the class


For information about national curriculum attainment targets covered by this lesson, please click here.