A Safe, Functional Society Requires Reliable Energy 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Be able to explain why reliable energy is essential for daily life. 
• Identify real-world consequences of power outages. 
• Describe how energy reliability impacts safety, health, and communication. 

Part 1: Activity: “48 Hours Without Power” 

In your notebook, create an hour-by-hour schedule of what your day, and that of your household would be like if you had no power for 48 hours. (Don’t sleep on this lesson!! Limit sleep time to 20 hours of the 48.) 

Think 

• What daily tasks would be hardest? 
• How would things in your city/neighborhood/town like hospitals, schools, or your family be affected? 
• Thinking about what you’ve learned in the Benergy course:  What do you take for granted that depends on reliable energy? 

Part 2: Safe, Functioning Society Through a Reliable Grid 

Pre-view Questions – Use these questions to activate your curiosity and gauge your baseline understanding 

Post-Viewing Questions – Use these questions to assess your understanding of the video’s key points and  to help reinforce your understanding of the main messages. 

Part 3: Family Energy Exercise:  “Power Out for a Day Challenge” 

Purpose:  To help families understand how deeply everyday life depends on reliable, continuous energy. 

Participants:  Student + family (2–6 people) 

Instructions

1. Set the Scene: 
   Tell your family: “Imagine the power goes out across our entire region for 24 hours — no phones, no Wi-Fi, no electric stove, no heat or AC.” 

2. Brainstorm Together: 
   On a large sheet of paper or whiteboard, list everything your family couldn’t do without power. (Cooking? Working remotely? Charging phones? Using medical devices?) 

3. Plan Your Survival Strategy:
   As a team, figure out how you’d handle:
   • Keeping food safe 
   • Staying warm or cool 
   • Communicating with friends/family 
   • Lighting your home at night 
   • Getting news or updates 
4. Discuss:
   • How quickly would life become difficult? 
   • What systems rely on reliable energy (hospitals, transportation, emergency response)? 
   • How does America’s strength depend on keeping those systems running? 
5. Optional Real-Life Twist: 
   Try a 2-hour “Power Down” challenge in the evening — no electricity allowed. See which parts of life you miss most, and how creative your family becomes. 

6. Reflection Questions:
   • What surprised you the most about how much you rely on energy? 
   • What industries or jobs might stop working during an outage? 
   • Why does reliable energy make a nation stronger and safer?