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You and your family are driving home from California. On the way, your parents take you to the Hoover Dam in Nevada. At the dam you take a short tour and learn how the dam produces electricity.
After the tour, you ask your parents if the electrcity in your home comes from a dam. Your dad asks if you think different areas of the United States use different sources for their electricity. You think this is an excellent question and are challenged to find the answer on the Internet.
Complete the following activities and record your answers on the worksheet provided.
Teachers: Download a copy of the student worksheet that accompanies this MiniQuest. You will need Adobe Acrobat to view this file.
Step One. Explore energy sources for states in the Southwest, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Far West, and Middle States regions. You will choose two states from each region and record the percentages for their sources of electricity in the chart on your worksheet. Enter $40 as the amount of the electric bill for each state. Nevada is done for you. Click here to go to the Environmental Defense Fund Web site to find the sources of electricity for each region.
Step Two. Find the average* percentage of each energy source for all the regions. Record your answers on your worksheet chart.
*Average or mean is found by adding all the numbers and dividing that sum by how many numbers you added.
For example, the average of 6, 4, and 8 is found by adding 6 + 4 + 8 = 18 and then dividing 18 by 3. Therefore, the average of 6, 4, and 8 would be 6.
Examine the data on your chart for sources of electricity and record your answers for the following questions on your worksheet.
1. Write a short conclusion for each of the six regions. Use the following questions to guide your thinking:
2. Look at the averages you computed for all your states for each source of electricity and record the answers for the following questions on your worksheet.
3. Compare the percentages of sources of electricity of individual states to the averages of all the twelve states.
4. Make a bar or pie graph for the sources of electrcity using the averages you found for each source.
5. Compare your graph with a classmate. Did you and your classmate choose different states for each region? How much did that affect the averages for each source of electricity?