Nuclear Energy: Friend or Foe?
The Problem: To Build or Not to Build … a new Nuclear Power Plant
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (owned by Westar Energy, Great Plains Energy and KCP&L
Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.) is located in Coffey County, Kansas, just northeast of Burlington about 55 miles south of Topeka, 90 miles southwest of Kansas City and 120 miles northeast of Wichita. Wolf Creek currently provides most of Wichita’s electricity. You are chief-of-staff for your local congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has called you into her office to outline an urgent project. She needs you to help her decide whether or not to support the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Kansas.
The Story:
NOTE: The story upon which this project is based has been adapted from Smarter Balanced: “Nuclear Energy – Friend or Foe?”, located at http://www.smarterbalanced.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/performance-tasks/nuclear.pdf, and should not be taken as factual.
“I have received advance notice,” she says as you sit down, “that a power company is proposing to build another nuclear plant in the southeastern corner of our state. The plan will be announced to the public tomorrow morning, and citizens and journalists will want to know what my position is on this controversial issue. To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about it. … I haven’t taken time to consider the issue deeply.”
“I need you,” she continues, “to conduct a brief survey of the pros and cons of nuclear power. Summarize what you have learned and report back to me this afternoon.”
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (owned by Westar Energy, Great Plains Energy and KCP&L
Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, Inc.) is located in Coffey County, Kansas, just northeast of Burlington about 55 miles south of Topeka, 90 miles southwest of Kansas City and 120 miles northeast of Wichita. Wolf Creek currently provides most of Wichita’s electricity. You are chief-of-staff for your local congresswoman in the U.S. House of Representatives. She has called you into her office to outline an urgent project. She needs you to help her decide whether or not to support the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Kansas.
The Story:
NOTE: The story upon which this project is based has been adapted from Smarter Balanced: “Nuclear Energy – Friend or Foe?”, located at http://www.smarterbalanced.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/performance-tasks/nuclear.pdf, and should not be taken as factual.
“I have received advance notice,” she says as you sit down, “that a power company is proposing to build another nuclear plant in the southeastern corner of our state. The plan will be announced to the public tomorrow morning, and citizens and journalists will want to know what my position is on this controversial issue. To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about it. … I haven’t taken time to consider the issue deeply.”
“I need you,” she continues, “to conduct a brief survey of the pros and cons of nuclear power. Summarize what you have learned and report back to me this afternoon.”
Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Facility
1. Smart Notebook presentation on “Fission” and Student Note-Taking Guide
2. pHet Virtual Lab: Nuclear Fission
3. Controlling Fission: Dominos & meter stick lab
4. Virtual Lab: Run a Nuclear Reactor
5. Guest Speaker: Wolf Creek Representative
6. Radiation Lab: Nuclear Cloud Chambers
7. Math Activity: Graphing Half-Life of Isotopes
8. SchoolFusion Wiki - Pros & Cons of Nuclear Energy
9. Smarter Balanced’s Sample Performance Assessment: Write the representative’s official position statement on whether or not to support the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Kansas.
10. Extension: Literacy Activity on Nuclear Fusion – ITER: Harnessing the Power of the Sun (http://www.iter.org/)
11. Fission vs. Fusion Prezi -- An At-Home Review
(NOTE: In the 2013 blockbuster movie Oblivion, the alien has invaded Earth to take the water to power its fusion reactor. The movie trailer is below. Mention it…it is educationally irrelevant, but the kids will recognize it as a real-world connection and think it is cool. :)
2. pHet Virtual Lab: Nuclear Fission
3. Controlling Fission: Dominos & meter stick lab
4. Virtual Lab: Run a Nuclear Reactor
5. Guest Speaker: Wolf Creek Representative
6. Radiation Lab: Nuclear Cloud Chambers
7. Math Activity: Graphing Half-Life of Isotopes
8. SchoolFusion Wiki - Pros & Cons of Nuclear Energy
9. Smarter Balanced’s Sample Performance Assessment: Write the representative’s official position statement on whether or not to support the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Kansas.
10. Extension: Literacy Activity on Nuclear Fusion – ITER: Harnessing the Power of the Sun (http://www.iter.org/)
11. Fission vs. Fusion Prezi -- An At-Home Review
(NOTE: In the 2013 blockbuster movie Oblivion, the alien has invaded Earth to take the water to power its fusion reactor. The movie trailer is below. Mention it…it is educationally irrelevant, but the kids will recognize it as a real-world connection and think it is cool. :)