Part 1:  How Energy Costs Impact You and Your Family 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Understand what “energy costs” mean and where they show up in a household budget. 
• Recognize how energy prices affect more than just electricity and gas bills — including groceries, transportation, and manufactured goods. 
• See the connection between affordable, reliable energy and a stable lifestyle. 

Key Concepts

• Direct Energy Costs:  Electricity, natural gas, gasoline. 
• Indirect Energy Costs:  Everything that uses energy to produce—food, clothing, transportation, streaming data centers, etc. 

Think 

Imagine if your family’s electricity bill doubled next month. 

How would that change your life? (Less money for streaming subscriptions? Fewer meals out? Harder to save for college?) 

Write

In your notebook, quickly jot down: 

• One personal effect – How would a drastic rise in energy prices alter your life and the things you use regularly? 
• One family/household effect – How would a drastic rise in energy prices alter life within your household and the things your family uses regularly? 

Ask

Ask your parent, sibling, or study buddy to come up with their own 2 answers – one personal and one household 

Pair

Discuss your responses with a family member or friend, identifying one point of agreement and one point of difference. Briefly discuss the variance in the respective responses, then note those responses in your notebook. 

Share and Compare 

One INDIRECT ENERGY COST (like food or clothes) that surprised you when you realized energy affects it. 

One DIRECT ENERGY COST (like electricity, natural gas, gasoline) that forced you to rethink how you would continue to live your life if the cost of that direct energy doubled 

Part 2: Real-Life Budget Activity – “What Would You Give Up?” 

Learning Objectives 

By the end of this lesson, students will: 

1. Apply math and reasoning to evaluate how rising energy costs affect your family’s choices. 
2. Engage in real-world family discussions about budgeting. 
3. Understand trade-offs your family would have to make under financial pressure. 

Ask 

Ask a Parent or Guardian (with respect and privacy in mind) to share a simplified monthly household budget. 

Example categories and figures 

• Housing (Rent/Mortgage): $2000 
• Insurance – home and vehicles:  $250 
• Education – school fees, etc.: $400 
• Food: $900 
• Car note/lease: $600 
• Energy (Electricity, Gasoline, etc.): $350 
• Internet/Phone: $200 
• Entertainment: $200 
• Dental/Medical: $150 
• Lawn care – professional service or cost to buy and maintain lawn equipment: $100 
• Sports/School clubs – uniforms, equipment, fees: $100 
• Savings: $100 
• Miscellaneous: $250 
  Total: $5,200/month 

1. Calculate a 20% direct energy cost increase:
   • New energy total: $350 × 1.2 = $420 
   • Additional cost: $70 
2. Calculate estimated indirect costs due to rising energy prices (Remember: When energy costs rise the cost of almost everything goes up over time):
   • New energy total over time: $4850 × 1.2 = $5820 
   • Additional cost: $970 
3. Total direct and indirect increased cost due to 20% rise in energy prices = $1040 
4. Adjust your Household Budget: 
   Without increasing total income, subtract $1040 from other categories.

Discuss with your family

Talk about what you learned in your budgeting exercise

Write

Think about what you learned and answer these questions in your notebook.

1. What did you and/or your family cut from the monthly budget first? Why? 
2. How might this affect family life (less travel, fewer activities, fewer savings)? 
3. How could more affordable, reliable energy help your family’s stability? 

Activities 

Create and share a pie chart of your family’s budget before and after the 20% energy increase. 

Family Interview: Ask parents or grandparents how energy prices have changed over time and what sacrifices they remember making.