In this web-quest you will

search different energy sources;

estimate their advantages and
disadvantages;
consider other peoples opinions
evaluate this information.

 What do you know about energy

sources?
What type of heating do you have at
home?
Where does electricity come from?
What kind of transport do you use to
get to the University?
What are the problems in energy
security? What are their solutions?

What do you know about

different types of energy
sources?
Click on the links below to find the answers to
the question.
You might also use
online dictionaries,
online concordance
online thesaurus

http://
www.bbc.co.uk/climate/adaptation/wind_power
.shtml
http://
www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,46522
,00.html
http://www.nppd.com/about-us/power-plants-fac
ilities/wind-generation
/
How does wind generate the energy?
What do some people not like about the turbines?

 http://
electric-power-plant.blogspot.ru/2010/03/hydro-powe
r-plant.html
http://
www1.eere.energy.gov/water/hydro_plant_types.ht
ml
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/water/research.html
Who was the first to have used the power of water?
What are the types of hydro power plants?
What are the targets of the Water Power Program?
What kind of industries use the river power?

 http://www.oilcrisis.com/overview.htm
http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/ANWR/
http://
www.anwr.org/Video/Senator-Stevens-Confronts-Con
gress-for-Blocking-Oil-Exploration.php
http
://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/peril_
oil_pollution.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/two-veryimportant-lines?
utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_con
tent=email260-graphic&utm_campaign=energy
http://
www.gulfoilandgas.com/webpro1/Projects/default.
asp?nid=RU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiHghN7_46U

What are some hazards of oil use?

COAL
http://
www.fossil.energy.gov/education/energylessons/coal/
coal_history.html
http://www.planetark.com/enviro-news/item/70383
http://www.planetark.com/enviro-news/item/70380
http://www.nppd.com/about-us/power-plants-facilitie
s
/
What was coal originally?
When and where did coal start to be used on a big
scale?
What measures are being taken to prevent coal
combustion impact on the environment?

GAS
http://www.nppd.com/about-us/power-plants-facilities /
http://
www.fossil.energy.gov/education/energylessons/gas/ga
s_history.html
http://rt.com/business/iran-russia-gas-oil-projects-029 /
http://www.planetark.com/enviro-news/item/70385
http://
www.gulfoilandgas.com/webpro1/Projects/default.asp
?nid=RU
What was gas used as a fuel for in the 1800s?
When were most gas pipelines built?
What are the problems in energy security? What are
their solutions?

NUCLEAR POWER
http://
www.bbc.co.uk/climate/adaptation/nuclear_power.shtml
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countri
es-O-S/Russia--Nuclear-Power
/
http://www.planetark.com/enviro-news/item/70392
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countri
es-G-N/Japan
/
http://www.nppd.com/about-us/power-plantsfacilities/cooper-nuclear-station/
What is the total capacity of Russian, Britain nuclear
power plants?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear

SOLAR POWER
http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/adaptation/solar_
power.shtml
http://www.planetark.com/environews/item/70389
When did solar power first start to become
popular?
What countries efficiently use solar power?

TASKS
Pretend you are members of the
international team designing a
power plant for your country.

1.Choose your country from the list:

Russia, Great Britain, the USA,
Australia, Sweden, Germany, China,
Venezuela, Japan

2. Decide your criteria to

design a power plant:

Renewability: how long will this source be

around?

Cost: is the source financially possible?

Aesthetics: how will it look?

Performance: will it produce enough energy?

Safety: can anyone get hurt?

Impact: on wildlife, on the environment, on

people.

After you have chosen your points, put them

in the order of importance for you.

3. Interview your group

mates or family members
based on the above
criteria.
Which one do they think is the best?
Which one is the worst?
4. Search on the Internet (URLs given) to find
the opinion of a public person, government,
or other interested parties
5.List
at least 2-3 advantages and
5.
disadvantages for each energy source.

6. Report your results to

your team members at
the round-table talk
Which source is the best
for your country?
Give reasons why, providing
information you have collected
from this project.

7. Write a survey for the

journal
1. What source of energy have you chosen?
2. How is it generated?
3. What is its industrial and every day
application?
4. What are its advantages and disadvantages?
5. Does it affect the environment? How?
Use the active vocabulary of Unit 3 (p. 46)

Self-evaluation:
What did you learn in this web-quest?
What did you like most of all about it?
What would you like to change or improve?
Your feedback at:
sunnymood77@hotmail.com would be
greatly appreciated!

TEACHING NOTES &

EVALUATION

Refer to this evaluation form when

evaluating
students'
work
below standard
standard
above
outstanding
6-7
(4/3; 3/4;3\3)

Survey

standard
10 (5/5)
8 -9
(5/4; 4/5; 4/4)
disorganised clearly written,
carefully
engaging, original and
and difficult to logically organised, planned and well organised text,
follow; little
including a
checked text, consisting of
data, few
representative
including
introduction, data
conclusions;
range of facts and introduction; a(extensive) and
intrusive errors some conclusions; good range of conclusion. No errors of
of vocabulary but grammatical
data, and
grammar or
and grammar and lexical
conclusions; vocabulary; consistent
mistakes impede logically
and appropriate style;
overall intelligibility linked and
illustrative diagrams or
accurate in
charts might also be
terms of
included
grammar and
lexis; good
rage of
vocabulary

below standard

standard

above

outstanding
2

Report

standard

report is
report is basic report is
report is
confused
but sufficient thorough and exceptionally well
and/or short to present
clearly laid
argued,
and/or difficult main
out, with
demonstrating
to follow,
arguments;
arguments
original, often
poorly
divided into convincingly committed, thinking
researched
clear sections made on the based on thorough
and/or
and generally basis of well research,
minimally
easy to follow; researched
expressing a range
exemplified; research not data; research of points of view but
intrusive
exhaustive
has gone
reaching clearly
errors of
but sufficient beyond the
articulated and
vocabulary
and mainly
most obvious accurately
and grammar original;
sources and expressed
and/or large grammatical there is ample conclusions
chunks copied and lexical
evidence of
directly from mistakes do original
websites
not impede
thinking and
overall
writing; high
intelligibility level of
accuracy and
a broad lexical

Presentation

presentation presentation well organised presentation

simply read organised into presentation, painstakingly
aloud; not
stages, clearly with clear and researched but
easy to follow, illustrated and detailed
presented in an
poorly
sufficiently
rationale,
engaging, even
illustrated,
detailed to
showing
entertaining, way;
and/or under- give a general evidence of technically
rehearsed;
idea;
thorough
impressive, well
work not well evidence of
research and resourced; even
distributed
rehearsal and rehearsal;
distribution of work,
between
sufficient
attractively
each contribution
group
group
illustrated;
harmoniously linked
members;
collaboration, work well co- to make a coherent
little apparent even if
ordinated and whole; report
liaison or
workload not evenly
delivered with notes
collaboration evenly
distributed;
but not read aloud;
distributed;
some reading questions handled
some reading aloud, but
effectively and
aloud, but
some
spontaneously
some
improvised
improvised
telling
telling

CONCLUSION
This Web-Quest has introduced learners to the concept of
alternative energy sources, and of how to use World
Wide Web English-language resources critically in order to
become better informed about the repercussions of using
current energy sources.
They have had to collaborate (in a group course) to
design and present an original list of advantages and
disadvantages of energy sources, along with an
investigative report justifying their decisions. This has
required the synthesis and organization of data in an
original way.
They have also had to work individually to report on a
survey. Finally they have had to engage self-appraisal
skills in order to evaluate their progress and participation
in the tasks.