LibGuides: 8th Grade Design Thinking: High Home Energy Costs

Facts about High Home Energy Costs

People in some neighborhoods tend to live in old buildings that take a lot of energy to keep warm/cool and have to use old appliances that waste energy.
These people have to pay higher energy bills than people living in newer areas.
People living in these areas already tend to have lower incomes so these energy costs are a burden they cannot afford.
Since most are renting, they don't have control over the energy efficiency of the building or the appliances.

Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context

Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window
This database contains the full content of many of the Gale's print publications about controversial issues, such as the Opposing Viewpoints series, Current Controversies, and more. It also includes articles from reference books, periodical articles and websites.

Key Article

Tackling 'Energy Justice' Requires Better Data. These Researchers Are On It
NPR article, June 13, 2021: Poor people and people of color use much more electricity per square foot in their homes than whites and more affluent people, according to new research. That means households that can least afford it end up spending more on utilities.

Explora

Explora- High School Version This link opens in a new window
This new interface from Ebsco is designed specifically for the general research needs of high school students to provide a variety of appropriate magazine and newspaper articles, chapters from books, and videos on a wide selection of topics.

Key Video

2020 Energy Burden Report
Low-Income Households, Communities of Color Face High Energy Burden

Key Website

Weatherization Assistance Program
The Weatherization Assistance Program is designed to reduce the impact of high home energy costs for income eligible residents by implementing energy-efficient measures that may include reducing air infiltration, installing insulation, heating system repair or replacement, and air quality assessment.

Sample Keywords

Try combining some of these phrases together in your search:

High energy costs
High-cost energy
High energy prices
Energy policy

How to use a database

Databases can be a great place to find all sorts of information. They contain several different source types - books, reference book articles, magazine and newspaper articles, video, audio, statistics, and even recommended websites.

When you use a database you will probably need to narrow down your search to find results that are relevant to your topic. Here are some limiting tips:

Limit by date of publication - you are researching a current issue, so you probably don't want any materials that are more than 5-8 years old.
Add search terms - the more terms in your search, the more focused your search will be. Leave out words like the, and, a, if, is, to, an and so. These terms will be omitted from your search anyway.
If you want to look up a particular topic or person of more than one word, use quotes to make the database do a phrase search. Ex. "John F. Kennedy", "Civil Rights Movement".
Limit by publication type or name (for example, look for articles from the New York Times).