IEA Says U.S. to be Biggest Oil Producer by 2020

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: Nov 15, 2012; Category: Energy, Energy Education; Tags: energy education, natural gas, oil, Petroleum; Comments: Comments Off

According to a new forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world’s biggest oil producer before 2020 and will be energy independent 10 years later.

The U.S. is experiencing an oil boom in large part thanks to high world prices and new technologies, including hydraulic fracturing, according to the report, that have made the extraction of oil and gas from shale rock commercially viable.

“The United States, which currently imports around 20% of its total energy needs, becomes all but self sufficient in net terms — a dramatic reversal of the trend seen in most other energy importing countries,” the IEA stated.

Iraq is set to become the second largest oil exporter by the 2030s, as it expands output to take advantage of demand from fast growing Asian economies.

Read the IEA report in the World Energy Outlook HERE.

What are your thought s on this projection? What does this news mean in your part of the world? How will it affect you?

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How Kids Teaching Kids Works in My Classroom

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: Oct 18, 2012; Category: Classroom materials, Energy Education; Tags: Children, Classroom Instruction, Education, Energy, energy education, Energy4me, Environment, oil, Petroleum, science, SPE, STEM, students, Teachers; Comments: Comments Off

 

Guest blog by Jeannine Huffman, CTE Energy & Design Instructor, San Joaquin County Office of Education – Stockton, CA. Courtesy of The NEED Project.

How did Jeannine Huffman convince her students to not only want to learn about energy content, but remember it as well? Her strategy was kids teaching kids… read more in this fascinating blog post!

At the end of the school year my high school students know energy transformations, energy sources, and electricity generation by heart. In fact, when Pacific Gas and Electric sent a team to help students conduct an energy audit, the professionals said that our students were the only students they had ever worked with who could name every form and source of energy, each transformation, and how electricity was generated.

How did I accomplish this? I first had to convince my students at the beginning of each year to want to learn and remember the energy content.  I did this by introducing them to the Learning Pyramid. I have known about the Learning Pyramid, but have not had an opportunity to fully put its method into action until I began using NEED curriculum. I have grown more and more convinced that the Pyramid is representative of the belief that when Kids Teach Kids they retain and apply the content more effectively.

How does it work in my classroom?  I post the Learning Pyramid Chart and refer to it during class, reminding the students that our goal is to reach the top. At the bottom of the chart is Lecture 5%, so I say to my students, “If I stand up here and lecture, you will only remember 5%. In fact, you probably wonder how you are ever going to remember everything.” Student buy-in is critical and right away they see on the chart that they will only remember 10% if they read along with my lecture. As students move up the chart, adding visuals to reading and lecture, the retention increases to 20%. This affords the students a chance to tap into their meta-cognitive skills which means they are thinking about their own learning and taking personal responsibility to examine how they learn.

Demonstrations help students remember a concept but it has been suggested that they will only remember 30%.   How do I know this? When asked to explain energy transformations, or energy flow from the sun, most cannot explain the concept completely. Allowing students to discuss in groups and as a class may increase their retained knowledge up to 50%.  As a teacher you will reap rewards, and they will too, by allowing them to discuss and collaborate.  It is OK for a classroom to be noisy.  Science and technology aren’t silent.   After demonstrations and discussion about half the class can explain the energy flow well.

When students practice by doing, the retention can increase to 75%.  Through repetition, most students are able to easily explain the energy transformation. Let your students experiment, explore and work in teams. It is more work for you to set up multiple labs, but the return on the investment of teacher time is significant.  NEED’s hands-on kits (wind, solar, Science of Energy and more) come with equipment for demonstrations and experiments like the Hand Generated Flashlight that students use to see how motion energy transforms to electrical energy.  Hands-on learning always requires more investment of time in the classroom, but it pays off in student performance and classroom success.

The biggest return on the investment is when students are afforded the opportunity to teach others. This is not a surprise to NEED teachers. For example, once you became a teacher, your first lecture on electrons made much more sense and led to more personal understanding.  The same holds true for your students. Unless they can explain each step accurately, they do not really understand the concept. What a perfect way to assess your students on the spot! The work that goes into preparing to teach a class prepares students for energy presentations and other academic presentations they will give throughout the year. It is an effective, and fun, way to bring important concepts about energy out of the classroom and into the community.  Teach each other, teach others.

What is the gain by taking extra classroom time for every student to teach each other? A whopping 90%.  I believe it! There is a great deal of satisfaction in observing them as they teach and as I assess them informally.  Once students are trained in this method, they know they do not leave the classroom until they have taught others. By the time the student teams have practiced and presented lessons, they have heard the concepts better than they ever expected.  Moreover, students seem to compete with one another to see who can give the best presentation! The classroom becomes a truly cooperative learning space and students all pay better attention, are more engaged and accountability and responsibility for learning skyrockets.  One freshman, who was struggling to grasp a concept after several attempts to explain, finally had an AH HA! moment and said, “I will never forget this!” This is what a teacher lives for!

To embed this knowledge, I reinforce regularly in a playful way. Out of the blue I will say, “I just heard a noise outside who can trace that energy flow from the sun?” Hands shoot up as students have become very aware of energy around them.

This about this:  I was talking with my niece about teaching electrolytes in my chemistry class. My niece said, “I memorized what the definition of an electrolyte was and passed my chemistry class last year, but I can’t even tell you what it is now.” This statement disturbed me. How many of us are good at memorizing facts but still don’t know how to apply that knowledge? Teach them to teach and they will never forget!

I love the NEED curriculum.  But it is only recently that I have come to realize the importance of the motto, “Kids Teaching Kids.” It was not until I had firsthand experience with the Learning Pyramid that see and know how well it works.

Learn more about the NEED project at www.NEED.org

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How Oil Drilling Works?

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: Aug 23, 2012; Category: Energy, Energy Education, Engineering Careers; Tags: energy education, Engineering, natural gas, oil, Petroleum; Comments: Comments Off

How does a company go about finding oil and pumping it from the ground? You may have seen images of black crude oil gushing out of the ground, or seen an oil well in movies and television shows like “Giant,” “Oklahoma Crude,” “Armageddon” and “Beverly Hillbillies.” But modern oil production is quite different from the way it’s portrayed in the movies.

This article, from www.HowStuffWorks.com, examines how modern oil exploration and drilling works. It discusses how oil is formed, found and extracted from the ground.

Give it a read and let us know what you think!

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The Switch Energy Project – Building Awareness Through Energy Education

Author: Anthony Darby; Published: Jun 14, 2012; Category: Energy Education; Tags: energy education, natural gas, oil, Technology; Comments: Comments Off

Energy is the most important issue of our time.

It impacts the economy, the environment, food and water, population, everything. To understand these challenges, we first need to understand energy.

The Switch Energy Project began in 2008 when documentary filmmaker Harry Lynch met geologist Dr. Scott Tinker through another film project. The two agreed on the incredible importance of energy awareness and efficiency, and in 2009 set out to make a film that explored our energy future, and made the world of energy fascinating and relevant to the general viewer.

Over the following three years of production and editing, the goals for the project expanded to include the video library, the university and primary education programs, and eventually a TV/web series, all delivered and organized on www.Switchenergyproject.com. Visit the site for videos, movie screenings dates, trailers and an abundance of energy education.

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SPE’s Ghana Section is committed to energy education!

Author: Heather Stanford; Published: Dec 22, 2011; Category: Classroom materials, Classroom presentations, Education outreach, Energy, Energy Education, Energy sources, Engineering Careers, Environment, SPE members; Tags: Children, Classroom Instruction, Education, Energy, Energy4me, natural gas, oil, Petroleum, School, SPE, Student, Volunteer; Comments: Comments Off

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Ghana section, is growing and gaining momentum! With a growing membership and an enthusiastic board, they have made the commitment to make a difference in the oil and gas industry while doing something good for their community. The Ghana section will be supporting 10 schools in Accra and 10 schools in Takoradi with energy education materials including energy4me books and kits as well as classroom presentations.

SPE encourages all its members and sections to educate the public about energy and put a face on the industry. Energy is a critical issue worldwide, and SPE believes face-to-face contact is the ideal way to spread the word about energy conservation, the future of the oil and gas industry, and its impact on the planet.

The energy4me books and kits donated to the Ghana section were sponsored by energy4me, SPE’s energy education outreach program, and Colin Black, SPE EIC member and Director, Optima Solutions UK Ltd.

SPE and energy4me would like to thank the Ghana section in their energy outreach initiatives. Together, we can make a difference by sharing the facts about energy with the public and putting a face on the industry.

Keep up the good work!

Learn more about energy and energy careers.

The picture to the right shows the SPE Ghana board members and British High Commissioner, Mr. Peter Jones.