Energy and place (Chemistry)
Essential Questions:
- How does energy production and consumption impact place?
- How does your sense of place, environmental ethic, and understanding of our energy needs influence your perception and decisions relating to energy production and consumption?
potentialenergyproducedbyliquidsfinal.pdf | |
File Size: | 318 kb |
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Reflection:
Throughout this project, I gained insight into the nuances of the scientific process of which I wasn’t previously aware. Specifically, I learned about how important it is to adjust for confounding aspects of a laboratory experiment. For the laboratory experiment conducted at Fort Lewis, my group elected to design our own experiment investigating the potential energy of certain household liquids. Our procedure included soaking pieces of paper in different liquids and burning them underneath a calorimeter. Due to the extraneous steps that were undertaken, our results turned out to be highly inaccurate. If our process was less convoluted without excess steps and uncontaminated containers, our results would have yielded more accurate findings. I’ve learned that the scientific process is one of constant refinement and lives true to the saying, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
With my infographic, which can be viewed above, I was trying to bring awareness to the public as to the short-term nature of fossil fuels and to evoke a desire for sustainability within the viewer. The guiding question for my infographic was when will fossil fuel resources run out? (This determination would be based on current population, consumption rates and availability of the resources.) The likelihood of more fossil fuel sources being discovered is currently strong, but the point still remains as to how much longer we can create electricity if there were no other fuel sources found. If this scenario was true, then my poster creates a very strong case for the utilization of solar, wind, and nuclear power generation methods. Due to their nature, they will last a vastly longer amount of time than fossil fuels and are more environmentally friendly, meaning that they are the obvious choices for power generation. However thanks to corporate bureaucracy, nothing is being done to incorporate those power sources into our current grid. Plus, there is a stigma about the dangers of nuclear power that are in reality non-existent. This infographic highlights the obvious: the future of energy rests with solar, wind, and nuclear power.
Throughout this project, I gained insight into the nuances of the scientific process of which I wasn’t previously aware. Specifically, I learned about how important it is to adjust for confounding aspects of a laboratory experiment. For the laboratory experiment conducted at Fort Lewis, my group elected to design our own experiment investigating the potential energy of certain household liquids. Our procedure included soaking pieces of paper in different liquids and burning them underneath a calorimeter. Due to the extraneous steps that were undertaken, our results turned out to be highly inaccurate. If our process was less convoluted without excess steps and uncontaminated containers, our results would have yielded more accurate findings. I’ve learned that the scientific process is one of constant refinement and lives true to the saying, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
With my infographic, which can be viewed above, I was trying to bring awareness to the public as to the short-term nature of fossil fuels and to evoke a desire for sustainability within the viewer. The guiding question for my infographic was when will fossil fuel resources run out? (This determination would be based on current population, consumption rates and availability of the resources.) The likelihood of more fossil fuel sources being discovered is currently strong, but the point still remains as to how much longer we can create electricity if there were no other fuel sources found. If this scenario was true, then my poster creates a very strong case for the utilization of solar, wind, and nuclear power generation methods. Due to their nature, they will last a vastly longer amount of time than fossil fuels and are more environmentally friendly, meaning that they are the obvious choices for power generation. However thanks to corporate bureaucracy, nothing is being done to incorporate those power sources into our current grid. Plus, there is a stigma about the dangers of nuclear power that are in reality non-existent. This infographic highlights the obvious: the future of energy rests with solar, wind, and nuclear power.