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STEM Pro Live- Questions

APS Palo Verde Generating Station

Guest User

Dear Educators/Parents: Thank you for taking the time to use our resources. Use these questions as a starting point to help your students develop understanding of nuclear power. Please keep in mind that answers will vary based on your student's grade level. Remember the most important part of learning is having our students experience productive struggle as they develop their own understanding based on their research and prior knowledge.

Additional resources on Nuclear Energy:

Navigating Nuclear Energy https://www.navigatingnuclear.com/palo-verde-generating-station-vft/#/virtual-field-trip

APS Palo Verde Generating Station STEM PRO Live https://youtu.be/UtfNBJLvV3c

Online drawing tool: https://docs.google.com/drawings/

Pre-Lesson Questions (Complete before video):

  1. Make a list of everything you know about power and power production. Share this list with someone in your house.

  2. What types of power plants exist in the US? For lower grade levels, ask student to research online, list them, and/or draw pictures for each type.

  3. In your own words, explain the difference between each type of powerplant. Share your explanations with someone in your house? For lower grade levels, have students show you the picture they drew and state the resource that is used to produce energy for each type of powerplant.

  4. Ask the people in your house “Which type of powerplant they think is the most efficient (produces the most energy with the least amount of environmental, social, economic costs) and why? Which type of powerplant do you think is the most efficient? For lower grade levels, have students explain which type of powerplant they think produces the most energy and why.

Lesson Questions (Take note during video):

  1. Describe the main components of a nuclear reactor and the role of each component? For lower grade levels, have students draw them and label the components.

  2. How do nuclear reactors produce electricity? (Use a diagram to explain this to someone in your household). Explanation will vary based on student's grade level. As you listen to their answer try to identify reasoning, do not focus so much on vocabulary and focus more on ideas. Have them research the topic online again or visit resources listed above, so they can develop their own understanding. The idea here is to explain it in simple terms.

Post Lesson Questions (Complete after lesson)

  1. What are the benefits and costs to nuclear power? Use information you learned in the video and information online to write your response. For lower grade levels, students can create a T-chart and explain pros/cons to an adult.

  2. Explain your response to question one by creating a short video/tiktok/snapchat message that you can send to your family and friends? Make sure you ask your parents for permission. For students that do not have social media, they can provide their explanation to adult and/or call a family member to explain their response.

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