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The Institute for Science Education New Mexico

Provenance: Eli Maynard
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Description of the activity

Any combination of articles could be used to teach about a particular technology, topic, or debate surrounding nexus issues. For example, the resource section The Nexus Today is parsed out into nearly thirty topics from specific energy sources (conventional and renewable) to economic and health impacts and national security issues. For each topic, there is a list of readings that an instructor might select to create writing assignments and class discussions. Below we list a few examples of article combinations that might be used to create curriculum on a given topic. These are only examples and, once you explore the Nexus Resource library, you will find there are dozens of articles to choose from on any given topic. From these resources we hope that you create your very own activity customized to your needs!

To introduce or extend the activity, two card games, Thirst for Power and Challenge and Persuade, can be used to familiarize or further develop students' concepts ability to consider different viewpoints, to see the big picture of nexus issues, and to determine factors that affect decisions and approaches to solving energy, water, and climate issues.

Example 1: Geoengineering

Geoengineering attempts to utilize our understanding of geosciences and Earth's systems to manipulate on a large scale and control processes of Earth's climate system in order to counteract the effects of global warming. Various perspectives on the geoengineering approaches are presented in a list of articles in the Nexus Resources.

Two well-written articles from the The Nexus Today section of the resource library, one article by Spector¹and another by Hamilton², could be used for students to explore many different considerations, pros and cons and unknown outcomes, of geoengineering proposals. These articles are written for a general population, are easily accessible, and require no previous knowledge of geoengineering. After reading these articles, students could weigh arguments, determine and compare author viewpoints, and construct a resulting argument of their own based on the readings.

Discussion points might include: Select one geoengineering idea, and discuss pros and cons. What are some long-term impacts that might be considered for geoengineering the planet?

¹Spector, M. 2012. The Climate Fixers: Is there a technological solution to global warming? The New Yorker, 14 May 2012

²Hamilton, C. 2013. Geoengineering: Our Last Hope or a False Promise? New York Times, 26 May 2013

Example 2: Algae biofuels

Algae can be used to produce biofuel, but there are many considerations to this technology. A list of articles in The Nexus Today section of the resource library explores pros and cons and the probability of producing and using algae biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Consider two articles, one by Gunther¹ and the other by Werner², that systematically review points for and against biofuels. From these articles, students can gain a broad perspective of the issues surrounding biofuels and draw on their own knowledge to make arguments and counterarguments for expending the time and resources to further develop algae biofuels for mass production.

Discussion points may include: What are the arguments and evidence against biofuels? What are the arguments and evidence for biofuels? What is a "carbon debt" and how can this debt be limited in biofuel production (types of answers may include using waste biomass or using degraded and abandoned agricultural lands to grow the biomass)? How do economics play a part in direct and indirect emissions of biofuel crops?

¹Gunther, M. 2012. Green Crude: The Quest to Unlock Algae's Energy Potential. Yale environment 360, 15 October 2012.

²Werner, C. 2008. Resolving the Biofuels Debate. Solar Today, Jul/Aug 2008.

How to use the educational card games:

Thirst for Power is a resource management game, where each player is the governor of a region that needs to provide for the energy needs of the citizens. All forms of energy generation use up water resources and have an environmental impact; each region has limited water and an environmental impact limit. The players each have their own strategy, and whichever player reaches the energy goals, using only available water resources, and within the environmental impact limit wins. This game allows students to visualize and think about the relationships of energy and water and environmental impacts. For instance, hydrocarbon-based sources will get the player a lot of energy, but cost a lot of water and have a big environmental impact. Renewable sources use less water and have lower environmental impact, but generate less energy. The game improves critical thinking and reasoning skills.

Challenge and Persuade is a game of argumentation. Each player takes turn acting as a Judge. Each round the Judge draws an adjective and the players are given two fact cards. Each player contrives an argument, using fact cards, previous knowledge, and the adjective. The Judge decides which argument wins. The game allows students the chance to construct and deconstruct (in the case of the Judge) and evaluate arguments around nexus topics.

These games can be played in classrooms or in informal settings. Groups of 3-6 students can play. If using the games in conjunction with the readings, students should be encouraged to draw on the reading materials during game play. Written assignments or class discussions can easily be incorporated that allow students another chance to make or evaluate arguments and to consider and describe the complex issues at the nexus of energy, water, and climate.

Description of the Nexus Resources

The resource library at the Institute of STEM Education (ISE) contains three sections:

1. Focus on the Nexus that explores how water, energy, and climate are intertwined. For instance, it takes water to get energy, it takes energy to get water, and energy generation releases greenhouse gasses and alters the Earth's climate. Articles describe this interconnectivity in detail and touch on some of the important issues resulting from this nexus.
2. The Big Picture that provides overviews on options for addressing society's energy needs, water resources supply and demand, and drivers of climate change.
3. The Nexus Today contains real world scenarios that demonstrate real world manifestations of the nexus and solutions and technologies that are involved in addressing the problems resulting from the nexus.

This extensive resource library explores a wide range of topics, each topic having multiple articles that explore different viewpoints, technologies, problems, and issues that have arisen at the water, energy, and climate nexus. The activity uses a selection of these readings as focal points for teaching nexus concepts and issues, evaluating and developing arguments, and developing critical thinking skills through class discussions, writing assignments, and analyzing one or more texts on a given topic.