Teachers Think!

How hard is it to teach “a thought process” to students? Teaching about energy and all its facets can be easier than you think! The basic definition about energy is the ability to do work or cause change. It comes in several types, forms and sources. Energy is involved in every aspect of the world around us. Look at a glass of milk. What type of energy is held within? What forms of energy are used to bring the milk to market? What resources are used to produce a glass of milk? How many energy transformations occur in transporting milk from the cow or goat to a store?

A cow or goat produces milk. This is chemical energy. Milking used to be done by hand, an example of mechanical energy. Modern milking machines use electricity, another form of energy. The milk is then transported by car, truck or other vehicle to a processing facility. These vehicles use gasoline or diesel which comes from oil which is an energy source. The milk is placed in containers made from plastic (which is a product of oil) or cardboard (which is made from trees- i.e. paper). Then the milk must again travel by a vehicle to the store. The consumer travels to the store probably using a car running on gasoline and buys the milk. Returning home, they put the milk in the refrigerator which uses electricity to keep the milk cold. The milk finally is consumed giving the drinker chemical energy to continue helping their body perform their daily work.

To view the 2007 Think! Energy Poster, click on the image

More embedded energy can be found by asking the following questions. Where did the cow or goat get its energy from? The sun ultimately. Plants grow with sunlight and it is fed to the animals. How was the electricity produced that was used in various ways? Was it produced from burning fossil fuels – coal, oil or natural gas, or nuclear power, solar, wind, biomass? How much energy and which resources are used to build the vehicle, store, containers, even the glass itself? What energy does the consumer produce from utilizing the energy they get from the milk itself.