Developing unconventional oil/gas sources in sensitive or remote areas
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain the environmental costs associated with developing unconventional sources of oil and gas - oil from tar sands and gas from shale.
Key learning points
- Unconventional sources of oil and gas include shale gas and tar sands.
- Unconventional sources of oil and gas are increasingly being exploited.
- There are environmental costs associated with developing new unconventional oil and gas sources.
Keywords
Unconventional - sources of oil and gas that are relatively difficult to extract because the oil and gas is trapped and cannot flow freely towards an oil well or a gas well
Water quality - whether what is in a supply of water (e.g. its chemical or biological contents) make it suitable for a particular kind of use
Common misconception
Fracking only uses water which means its environmental impacts are harmless.
In fact fracking fluid includes toxic chemicals and sand as well as water, which can have serious environmental impacts if they get into groundwater or are spilled. The wastewater left over from fracking also needs to be stored carefully.
Teacher tip
Watching a video to show the processes involved in converting tar sands to oil and extracting gas from shale rocks can help students understand the challenges involved in making use of unconventional oil and gas sources.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is meant by 'access to energy'?
Q2.Which of these is a reason why some countries have more energy resources than others?
Q3.What is one impact of limited access to energy?
Q4.Why is fracking controversial?
Q5.Which of the following is a renewable source of energy?
Q6.Why do some countries with fossil fuels not use them?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Match these keywords to their definitions.
Oil/gas sources that are harder to extract as they cannot flow freely
A measure of whether water is clean or suitable for a specific use
A method of extracting gas or oil from deep shale rock underground
Q2.What makes remote areas harder places to develop energy projects?
Q3.Why are some people worried about developing energy in sensitive environments?
Q4.Some people think fracking only uses water. What else does it involve?
To help you plan your 11 geography lesson on: Developing unconventional oil/gas sources in sensitive or remote areas, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 geography lesson on: Developing unconventional oil/gas sources in sensitive or remote areas, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 geography lessons from the Energy unit, dive into the full secondary geography curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.