Teaching About Energy in Geoscience Courses

We may be poised on the brink of a shift in energy use and energy policy. Pressing issues like the longevity of petroleum supplies and rapidly expanding global markets competing for finite energy supplies are concurrent with considerations such as climate change policy and a push toward domestic energy production. Geoscience plays a role in many facets of energy science and policy; hence our students need solid footing on which to navigate through this complex subject. Whether as citizens and consumers or as scientific leaders in the field, today's students will play important roles in the future of energy.

Climate Change and Energy Webinar Series

Join us for a monthly series delving into emerging topics in climate change and energy. These 1 hour sessions will alternate between webinars on energy and climate science, and book clubs, where participants discuss selected books. Sessions take place on Fridays. For topics, dates and all the details, go to the webinar series page.

Resources for Teaching about Energy

• Classroom and lab activities contributed by faculty
  
• Courses about energy - a new collection
• Energy visualization collection - videos, animations and graphics about a wide range of energy types

  Related Links

  
  Teaching Climate Change
  

  
  
• Recommended resources - useful websites recommended by faculty who teach about energy
  
• Books for teaching about energy from the popular press
• Ideas for teaching about energy generated a the 2009 workshop
• Teaching energy with quantitative skills - a selection of activities with a quantitative approach for teaching energy concepts
  
• Plans for new approaches to teaching energy developed at the 2009 workshop
  
• Do you teach about energy in your courses? Let us know about your course, your favorite activity, or references or websites that you use.
  

Past workshops

Energy Workshop held at the 2010 GSA annual meeting in Denver

This one-day workshop was a follow-up to the original energy workshop held in May 2009 at the University of Wyoming. See the workshop program for presentations given at this workshop.

Teaching About Energy in Geoscience Courses: Current Research and Pedagogy

May 17-20, 2009, at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY

• See the workshop program for links to presentations, posters, discussion outcomes and photos
• Plans and preliminary designs for new approaches to teaching energy can be found in the results from working groups
• A page of teaching ideas contains many different energy topics and creative ways to teach them

Join the Discussion

Join the discussion on the Energy Email List.