Introduction to Energy Access – Energy Insecurity: Making Difficult Energy Decisions – Teacher

Summary

Teacher Guide: Energy Insecurity Decision-Making Activity

This teacher guide supports a scenario-based activity in which students explore how households respond when energy becomes difficult to afford, unreliable, or unsafe. Instead of focusing only on national infrastructure, the activity asks students to analyze everyday decisions faced by city renters, rural homeowners, and small business owners under pressure.

Teachers guide students through three dimensions of energy insecurity: economic, physical, and coping. Students evaluate available choices, weigh risks and tradeoffs, and propose alternative solutions or policy ideas that could reduce harm. The activity is especially effective for teachers searching for energy insecurity lesson plans, environmental science activities high school, or real-world energy decision-making scenarios.

Because the guide includes structured procedures, scenario options, reflection prompts, and whole-class discussion opportunities, it works well as a one-day case study or as a deeper extension to a broader energy access lesson.

Extend the Lesson:
Use this guide after students complete the Starter Pack and Data Set. For related systems lessons, connect to Indoor Air Pollution, The Electric Grid, or Energy Poverty video resources.