Lesson Three
Lesson Three
Big Power in Small Packages
About This Lesson
Did you know that small modular reactor power plants would require less than 1% of the land area that renewables such as biomass, wind, solar, and hydropower need to produce the same amount of energy? In this lesson, suitable for grades 9-12, students will look at small modular reactors (SMRs) and their benefits.
Materials Needed:
Procedure:
1. Ask students the longest they’ve gone without electricity or water and why they didn’t have it. (Possible answers could include storm, location such as camping remotely, limited hot water access, no charger, etc.)
2. Brainstorm solutions to making electricity more available in these circumstances.
3. Introduce Small Modular Reactors—As a class, create a KWL and fill out the first two sections:
What do you know about SMRs?
What do you want to know?
4. Watch Tomorrow’s World Today, Episode 410: “Big Power in Small Packages”
and answer handout questions.
5. Fill in the final part of KWL:
What did you learn about nuclear microreactors?
6. Review the previously discussed situations and brainstormed solutions. Could an SMR have helped in any of those circumstances?