STUDENT ACCESS (DIGITAL CURRICULUM)

Students gain access to 5 unique missions, each comprising of written articles, labs, field assignments, interactive games, video, and animations.

• Mission 1: Critical Current – Defining Energy – Students learn from weather meteorologist and NOAA Space Weather Physicist Dr. Janet Green, who studies the energy output from the sun and forecasts the weather in space.
• Mission 2: Waves of Change – Calculating Transfers and Transformations – Leading this mission, NOAA Senior Tsunami Modeler Dr. Vasily Titov uses DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) buoys, tide gauges, seismic sensors, and computers to monitor ocean activity in order to protect and guard our coastal shores.
• Mission 3: Power to the People – The Current State of the Grid – Students join Research Group Leader Dr. Larry Shadle, who is working to develop a system to minimize the toxic compounds and greenhouse gases that are emitted into the environment every day from coal-fired power plants.
• Mission 4: Energy Independence – The Quest for Sustainable Resources – Oak Ridge National Laboratory BioEnergy Science Center Director Martin Keller and his team lead this mission as they work to increase the supply of ethanol from nonfood crop sources like poplar trees and switchgrass.
• Mission 5: Energy Security – Powering Our Future – Leading this mission is NASA consultant and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Constance Adams, who designs space modules and off world habitats that are energy, efficient and functional for the space crews that inhabit them.

TEACHER SUPPORT MATERIALS

Specially prepared teacher support materials to support each of the five missions in Infinite Potential:

• Pre and Post Tests
• Data Sheets
• Lesson Plans
• A Special Teacher’s Edition
• Web links, and other tools