LAMP Energy Studies

The ASE’s LAMP Project took into account the need, expressed by HMI and government, to increase the relevance of the school science curriculum to the needs of society at a time of rapid societal and technological change. The importance of including energy related studies within the framework of the school curriculum seemed essential in order to develop appropriately educated and informed future citizens.

It was clear that an appreciation of the energy issues in a global context should therefore be a key component of any science course. A number of the LAMP topic briefs contained a substantial energy element. In this resource the existing content was collected together, rationalised and supplemented, to produce a specific energy unit.

The project team was concerned that:
*the science context of such studies should be open to all students to the age of sixteen,
*the teaching materials and teaching styles should match as nearly as possible the skills and abilities of the individuals concerned,
*the content offered and the approach to it, should engage the attention and interests of those whose specialism often appears to be an absence of commitment and concern, and that
*the teaching should seek to develop, even for these students, the skills, attitudes and ways of working which are the real distinguishing features of science.

[b]Aims[/b]
In producing this unit the writers had in mind the aims of the LAMP Project as a whole as detailed in Teachers Handbook 1. However the following particular aims were singled out in the context of this energy unit. To give students:
1. an appreciation of the role of science in society,
2. an awareness of the importance of safe working procedures and respect for the safety of others,
3. experience of setting up and carrying out experiments,
4. experience of presenting and interpreting information in graphical and related form;
5. an awareness of our dependence upon fossil fuels, a knowledge of how these fuels are obtained and an appreciation of their limited availability in the future;
6. knowledge and methods of conserving energy, particularly in the home;
7. an appreciation of the need for alternative energy sources.

[b]Contents[/b]
I. Fossil fuels
II. Uses of fossil fuels
III. Conserving fossil fuels
IV. The fuels of tomorrow