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The student will be able to…  Understand the potential effects nuclear power has on an environment  Research the facts and implications a nuclear power plant would have and draw a conclusion based on their research.  Conclude on the action, for or against building the nuclear plant that the county board should take.
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 Nuclear power, the use, storage, and disposal of nuclear waste.  The effects nuclear power has on the ecosystem it surrounds.  Short and long term implications of using nuclear power.
 * __ Concepts: __**

 Stage H
 * __ Standards: __**

11A —Students who meet the standard know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry.
 Report, display and defend the process and findings of issue investigation, presenting oral or written final report for action response options for peer review, generating further questions or issues for consideration, or evaluating other resolutions or responses for action for applicable correlations, consolidation or explanations.

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Apply scientific inquiries or technological design to explore the implications of change and stability in ecosystems, identifying evolutionary adaptations brought on by environmental changes, analyzing factors that influence the size and stability of populations (e.g., temperature, climate, soil conditions, predation, habitat), or contrasting energy use by organisms. =====

 Stage I <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> 12C —Students who meet the standard know and apply concepts that describe properties of matter and energy and the interactions between them. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Apply scientific inquiries or technological designs to investigate heat and sound energy mechanics, contrasting the production and conversions of heat and sound from the atomic to industrial levels, diagramming and modeling the processes or systems associated with large- and small-scale production, transmission and uses of heat and sound (e.g., heat engines, cooling systems, musical instruments).

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Stage J

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Apply scientific inquiries or technological designs to research the sustainability of energy sources, comparing alternative natural sources of energy to fossil energy sources in terms of risks, costs, benefits, supplies, efficiencies, storage, and renewability, or analyzing impacts of conservation measures and recycling on energy consumption. =====

__**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Potential Places in Curriculum: **__ <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> This web quest could be used when discussing an ecology unit and the factors that can disrupt an ecosystem. It could also be used when discussing radiation in an upper level biology class. Lastly, this could be used in an environmental science class to discuss the environmental effects human consumption of power is having on the environment.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Three days of class time would need to be allotted to the students to research and begin their proposal and presentation. There is a good chance that the students will need to work on the project outside of the class to complete it in full. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The students should be grouped into three to each take on a role in the web quest. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The students will need to have prior knowledge about elemental decay, most importantly uranium. They will also need to know that everything in an ecosystem is connected and dependent upon one another to understand the implications of radiation on the ecosystem.
 * __<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Implementation: __**

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> This problem based learning web quest is a way to reinforce the idea that everything in an ecosystem is connected. Also, it is a way to present a real world issue in science that has an effect on their lives. They are learning about the effects that an energy source, like nuclear energy, has on the environment that they live in and that this issue is not a black and white issue.
 * __<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Rationale: __**