Energy Crisis Advisor

WHAT: A goal-based scenario that teaches students about how batteries work.
BY: Dan Ratner, Aatish Salvi and Shomon Shamsuddin.
FOR: Cecilia Schnacky at the Lincoln School for Girls, Spring 1996.
SIZE: 2.4M (download); 3.1M (expanded).

INTENDED AUDIENCE

"Energy Crisis Advisor" was designed for twelfth grade chemistry students at the Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island. It was intended to teach the students everything from the basic electrochemistry of the voltaic cell up through a taste of current battery research.

EDUCATIONAL GOALS

The scenario is intended to teach students how batteries work in a more immediate and engaging way than via a textbook. It is meant to supplement an electrochemistry unit and give the student a reason to care about voltaic cells.

NOTES

The user of the program is the director of the Department of Energy and is charged with determining whether the California state law requiring 10% of cars sold in California in the year 2000 is feasible. At the end of the program the user is expected to generate a report to the United States cabinet. The report is saved and can be graded by the teacher.