Energy

Day 27

Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with GIS

Students will use GIS to investigate countries with petroleum (crude oil) reserves. Students will use GIS to analyze petroleum (crude oil) production and consumption for different countries. Students will examine how petroleum (crude oil) consumption and production have changed over a 28-year period, 1980 - 2008, both worldwide and in the US. They will also analyze relationships among countries' petroleum (crude oil) consumption and their populations.
 
Note: This instructional sequence focuses primarily on teaching with My World GIS. Please consult the Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with Web GIS Teacher Guide below for instructional support for teaching with the Energy Investigations Web GIS.
 
Video overviews of the learning activity are located below in the Teacher Resources/Content Support section of this Web page. These overviews show how to use the GIS for data analysis in the investigation. You may wish to show your students an overview video as you introduce the learning activity.
 
  1. Ask students to respond to the following question in their journals. What is petroleum commonly used for?
     
  2. Inform students that they will investigate countries with oil reserves and analyze petroleum (crude oil) production and consumption of countries.
     
  3. Distribute the Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with My World GIS handout and investigation sheet to each student.
     
  4. Instruct students to download the Oil Map.m3vz on to their computers from the student resources Web page and open it in My World GIS.
     
  5. Use an LCD projector to display My World at the front of the room. Model how to sort columns in ascending and descending order.
     
  6. Have students examine worldwide oil reserves. Instruct students to answer questions on their investigation sheets.
     
  7. Model how to use the Analyze Mode to analyze oil production, consumption, and population data. Illustrate how to do this with an example.
     
  8. Ask students to use the analyze mode to do the activity as they answer questions on their investigation sheets. Guide learners as they do the task.
     
  9. Review and discuss student responses to key questions. Ask students if they have any questions about concepts covered in the lesson and respond to their questions.
     
  10. If students at the completion of the activity do not understand that in most countries, as population increases so does a country's oil consumption, modify instruction to ensure students understand this concept.
     
  11. Have students close and not save any changes they made to the My World GIS file when they finish (if other students in later classes will use the file).
     
  12. To provide closure to the fossil fuels section of the energy unit, have students reflect on what they have learned about fossil fuels. Here are some suggestions: 
     a) Have students revisit their concept map and add additional information to it.
     b) Provide students with a reflective question to respond in their journals about fossil fuels. 
          For example: Name two things you learned about fossil fuels.

Materials Needed:


My World Handouts 

(1) Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with My World GIS Teacher Guide (PDF / MS Word) 

(2) Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with My World GIS Student Handout (PDF / MS Word)

(3) Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with My World GIS Investigation Sheet (PDF / MS Word)


My World GIS File 

Oil Map (M3VZ)
 

 

My World Assessment Information

Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with My World GIS Assessment (PDF / MS Word)


Web GIS Handouts 

(1) Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with Web GIS Teacher Guide (PDF / MS Word) 

(2) Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with Web GIS Student Handout (PDF / MS Word) 

(3) Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with Web GIS Investigation Sheet (PDF / MS Word)


Web GIS

Energy Investigations


Web GIS Assessment Information 

Investigating Oil Production and Consumption with Web GIS Assessment (PDF / MS Word)


Supplemental Homework Readings for Students 

Petroleum (PDF)


Teacher Resources/Content Support 

Fossil Fuels

Fossil Fuels - Print Version (PDF)

Web GIS Oil Tutorial (QuickTime Video)