Integrating Energy, Equity, and Place in High School Physics

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Heat pumps, air conditioning, energy equity and climate justice
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Highlights: Students explore the energy story of heat pumps and air conditioners then consider implications for energy equity and climate justice
Summary: The energy we use to heat and cool our living spaces represents a majority of home energy use in the US. Expanding access to these energy technologies is a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions but it can also be a matter of life and death during extreme heat events. In this activity students construct diagrams which represent the energy story for electric furnaces, heat pumps and air conditioners. When students have developed a scientific understanding of these devices they research and discuss equity and justice issues associated with their use in specific communities which are vulnerable to extreme heat events. .
Resource Types: Instructor supplement, In-class activity, Lecture materials, Homework, Project
Remote Learning Ready: This resource has been designed or adapted for use in remote learning.
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Heat pumps, air conditioning, energy equity and climate justice

Heat pumps, air conditioning, energy equity and climate justice

Video Introduction .url

Heating, cooling and climate justice.url

Heating, cooling and climate justice - Instructor's Guide.url

TEACHER GUIDE


IMPLEMENTATION

Duration:  2 sessions of 80 minutes per session.

Context and level of the class where you use this resource and how it fits into the flow of your course:  I have used this activity in an introductory physics course for science and engineering majors at Seattle Pacific University. This course has a typical enrollment of 30 - 40 students and utilizes Learning Assistants to facilitate small group learning. This activity is part of a unit on heat, temperature and thermal energy. Prior to this activity I introduce student to Energy Cubes and Energy Tracking Diagrams and have provided links in the instructors guide.

Basic implementation tips & tricks:  Some students may be really interested to understand the energy story of a refrigerant as it goes through the cycle shown on slide 6. There are many great resources for understanding this process better. I like the description in Daniel Schroeder’s book on Thermal Physics. You can also find many good open source resources. This is really cool physics but it’s not necessary to understand all the details to understand the big picture energy story; a heat pump uses electrical energy to pump thermal energy from a lower temperature region to a higher temperature region.

PEDAGOGY

What insights or realizations do you hope students gain from these instructional materials?  Through this activity students are able to work out for themselves how heat pumps and air conditioners can achieve an "efficiency" of much greater than 100% through a process that is consistent with the principle of energy conservation. Students can also recognize various reasons why people least responsible for climate change are also most vulnerable to extreme heat events.

How does this resource connect science and equity learning?  These materials help students connect fundamental energy ideas and model-based scientific reasoning to contemporary issues of public policy. Students can recognize increased access to air conditioning as both a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions and a critical strategy for adapting to severe heat waves. They can also explore systemic inequities in vulnerability to heat waves and resources for coping with extreme heat.

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SUBMISSION DETAILS


Copyright:   2022 Lane Seeley

License:   CC BY-NC-SA - Attribution, No Commercial uses and Share Alike. Derivative works must have the same license.

Last Edit Date:  August 15, 2022

Vetted Library Publication Date:  August 2, 2022

Submission Date:  July 26, 2022

Version: 
Version 3, August 15, 2022
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