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Description:

This class will study and simulate the revolution that built the modern world, from coal to oil!

For thousands of years, the most advanced feats of human engineering came about through brute labor of men and beasts. Armies, soldiers, and slaves built roads and temples, and cargo was transported on waterways or pulled on animal-drawn carts. Once humanity began the widespread use of mechanical engines, it kick-started a massive leap in technology and progress. The limits were no longer set by biology, but by technology. This took people out of fields and into factories, producing goods at superhuman rates and raising the standard of living for humanity to unimaginable levels. This class will study the early Energy Economy, how modern nations exploited new technology and energy sources in the Industrial Revolution.

The class will use a custom Role-Playing Game to simulate a transitional industrial economy. Students will role play as either industry or energy tycoons and attempt to dominate the market and rule the supply and demand, while balancing the construction and maintenance of a class energy grid. Economic systems, infrastructure, labor organization, all must be precariously balanced to keep civilization out of literal darkness. Will they be Carnegies and Rockefellers, or will they run out of steam? To accomplish this, students will create a business plan and run balance sheets week-by-week to justify their strategies. These strategies will have to account for decisions like, how much fuel to acquire versus how much energy/goods to produce and sell in the in-class economy. We will track this in a class ledger, updated weekly and posted online. The students' bookkeeping will reveal profit or loss and guide their choices for the next week's game. Players will learn to change their strategies and tactics based on what everyone else is doing so their businesses remain profitable. Will they avoid bankruptcy or achieve a monopoly -– true to history?

Each student's business plan and bookkeeping ledger will be updated on class Google Drive and will be developed with feedback from the instructor. At the end of the semester, students will add a reflection about what they learned and what they would have done differently in their business plan with their new knowledge and game experience.

Students are encouraged, but not required, to take both semesters of this class. First semester will use a simple energy and business model, while second semester will be more technical including more energy options and considerations, resulting in more complex business plans and game strategies. During the second semester, students will learn about the different types of jobs found in the energy industry.

Topics in this Series: The Industrial Revolution (Semester 1), The Oil Economy and Beyond (Semester 2). Students continuing from first semester receive priority pre-registration for second semester.

Prerequisites: None

Workload: Students should expect to spend 1-2 hours per week outside of class.

Assignments: Course documents including period plans, photographs and recreations will be made available through a class Google Drive link emailed to parents (and students who provide their email address), as well as a class reading list of articles/excerpts and YouTube playlist for any videos watched in class or assigned as homework.

Assessments: Informal assessments will be given at the instructor's discretion, but assignments will not be scored or graded. Each student's financial success in the game will be an indicator of their learning and participation for purposes of assigning a grade. Parents will also be given shared access to their student's business plan with instructor and ledger, with instructor comments at the conclusion of class.

Textbook/Materials: None

Lab/Supply Fee: None

What to Bring: Paper or notebook, pen or pencil

Credit: Credit: Homeschool families may wish to count this course as a component (partial) credit in History, Economics, or Business for purposes of a high school transcript.