Succeeding With Science - on behalf of the NDA

Britain's Energy Coast^(TM) is a masterplan for West Cumbria which plans to develop a sustainable, secure future for power generation in the UK. The ambition is to establish West Cumbria as a centre of excellence for nuclear and other energy technologies, including wind power, tidal, oil and gas. West Cumbria may have a major role in meeting the country's future energy needs and in helping Britain to combat climate change.

Your Energy Coast is an interactive module for 10-13 year olds which enables pupils to investigate different methods of electricity generation. This highly illustrated online resource features 9 animations providing easy-to-understand insights into the science behind nuclear, wind, hydro, tidal and solar power.

The production of electricity through burning biomass, and the way the human body converts food into energy are also included to provide pupils with a broad understanding of energy generation.

Pupils can build their own 'energy coast' and tackle the challenge of meeting the demand for energy by making their own decisions about the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of electricity generation.

The interactive simulation has 2 levels. Younger/less able pupils may find Level 2 too difficult, as it involves more complicated financial decisions to ensure sufficient budget is available to run and maintain the energy production plants for a year. All pupils are encouraged to begin with Level 1.

Level 2 also includes a random selection of additional questions for pupils to consider, such as whether to invest in new research and development. There are no easy answers to these questions. They are intended to show the complexity of energy policy decisions and prompt further classroom debate. The simulation can be played by pupils on individual computers, and is also an ideal resource for whole-class teaching using an interactive whiteboard.

Your Energy Coast has been developed to support science and geography teaching at KS 2 (Year 6) and KS 3 (Years 7 and 8). In particular, the resource helps pupils to:

• 'recognise how people can improve the environment or damage it, and how decisions about places and environments affect the future quality of people's lives'.
• 'recognise the importance of sustainability in scientific and technological developments. This can include examining issues surrounding the availability of finite resources, waste reduction and recycling, energy conservation and renewable energy resources, and environmental pollution'.