STEP 1:
When Thomas Edison turned on the world's first modern
electric lighting system in New York City's financial
district in 1882, the city was dazzled. As electricity spread
to the rest of New York, department stores, theaters, and
even the torch of the Statue of Liberty shone brightly in the
night. In the years since, electricity has come to power
almost everything we use -- at home, school, work, and soon --
with the coming electric car -- on the road as well. Modern
life would be impossible without it.
But electricity has its costs. Power plants pollute the
environment and require huge amounts of non-renewable
resources like coal, natural gas, oil, and uranium. Clearly,
things cannot go on this way forever. Experts say we have two
options: find renewable sources of energy -- such as solar
power -- and/or practice more energy conservation.
In this activity, we will explore the second option --
conservation. You will be asked to consider different ways to
conserve energy -- and to calculate costs.
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Early New York