Cover lesson · Science · Year 9 · Intermediate

Researching renewable energy for Wales

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher — you need no subject knowledge

Print: this sheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet “Bryn Ysgawen: which renewable energy?”, one between two. The search results are printed, so no computers are needed. If computers are available, pupils may try their Step 3 searches for real in the last ten minutes, but they should finish the paper steps first.

Run: 4 min read the brief aloud · 8 min Step 1, the science check · 8 min Step 2, focus the question · 8 min Step 3, plan the searches · 14 min Step 4, judge the eight results · 8 min Step 5, the research plan · 4 min Step 6, write a reference.

Collect: this sheet. Pupils are planning research, not writing the final answer, so a good sheet is full of questions, search terms and judgements, not conclusions about which energy source is “best”.

What you are doing

A village in the Welsh hills wants to generate its own renewable energy and has asked your class to find out which source would suit it best. Before anyone can answer that, someone has to plan the research. What exactly are we trying to find out? What will we type into a search engine? Which of the results can we trust? You are going to do that planning, using a printed page of real and invented search results.

Step 1 — science check

Use the science fact card on the stimulus sheet to complete the table. Then decide whether each resource is possible in Bryn Ysgawen.

Resource	Energy store it starts from	Predictable? (yes / partly / no)	Possible in Bryn Ysgawen? Give the evidence from the brief.
Wind
Hydroelectric
Solar
Tidal
Biomass

Step 2 — focus the question

“Is renewable energy good?” is far too broad to research. Rewrite it as one main question about Bryn Ysgawen that could actually be answered.

Now break it into three smaller questions. Make one about the science, one about the village (does it have the resource?) and one about people, cost or the environment.

Step 3 — plan the searches

A search engine only matches words, so the words you choose decide what you get. Use short keywords, not whole sentences, and at least one of these techniques in each search:

Technique	What it does
"run of river"	Quotation marks find those words together, in that order.
site:gov.wales	Only shows results from that website. Try site:ac.uk for universities.
-sale	A minus sign in front of a word removes results that contain it.
filetype:pdf	Only shows PDF documents, which are often full reports.

Smaller question	Exactly what I would type	What this search should leave out, and why that helps
1
2
3

Step 4 — judge the eight results

Score each result on the stimulus sheet out of 2 for each question, then decide: Use, Use with care or Reject.

Question	2 points	1 point	0 points
Who wrote it?	A named organisation or expert responsible for the topic	Named, but not independent or not expert	Anonymous
When?	Dated and recent (last 2 years)	2 to 5 years old	Older than 5 years, or no date
Why was it written?	To inform	To inform, but the writer has something to gain	To sell, or to get clicks
Evidence?	Figures, with where they came from	Some figures, no sources	Opinion only

Result	Who	When	Why	Evidence	Total /8	Use / Use with care / Reject
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

(a) Result 1 says an error was found and a figure was corrected. Does that make the page more or less trustworthy? Explain.

(b) Result 1 gives 55% (for 2024) and result 4 gives 27% (for 2019). Give two reasons the figures could differ, and say how you would quote a figure in your research so that nobody is misled.

Step 5 — the research plan

Smaller question	Best result(s) to start with	What exactly I need to find out	How I will record it
1
2
3

Step 6 — write a reference

Write a full reference for result 1 in this format:

Organisation (year) Title. Available at: web address (Accessed: date you looked)

Step by step

4 min — Read the brief on the stimulus sheet. Underline three facts about the village that matter for energy.
8 min — Step 1: complete the science table from the fact card.
8 min — Step 2: write one main question and three smaller ones.
8 min — Step 3: plan one search for each smaller question.
14 min — Step 4: score all eight results, then answer (a) and (b).
8 min — Step 5: fill in the research plan.
4 min — Step 6: write the reference.

Success criteria

I can name the energy store each renewable resource uses and say how predictable it is.
I turned a vague question into a focused one about a real place, with three smaller questions I could research.
I planned searches with chosen keywords and at least one technique each, and I can say what each technique filters out.
I judged every source on who, when, why and evidence, and my decisions follow from my scores.
My research plan links each question to a trustworthy source, and I can write a full reference.

If you finish early

Results 5 and 8 scored low, but they are not useless: each could give you an idea to check. Write down one claim from each that you would go and test in a better source.
The brief says Nant Ysgawen is lower in dry summers, while solar panels produce most in summer. Explain why a village might choose two sources rather than one.
Write a fourth smaller question about what the village could do with its oil heating, and plan the search for it.