Module 6: Lesson 1 | MoodleHUB 🎓

1. Module 6

1.3. Lesson 1

Module 6 Lesson 1

Module 6—Petrochemicals

Lesson 1—Petrochemicals in Alberta

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A photograph shows a brightly lit chemical plant at dusk.

In the previous module you recorded signs of activity associated with the petroleum industry. You may have identified local businesses or activities in your community that use petroleum to make other products. If Alberta has a source of petroleum, it makes sense that the province should also have a lot of industry that uses petroleum.

Alberta's petrochemical industry is a very large sector of the provincial economy. It is estimated that over 7000 jobs are directly related to the petrochemical industry. You know that chemical engineers and technologists are required to operate petrochemical plants like the one pictured. However, when you consider the construction and maintenance of facilities and the support required to keep a workforce busy, you realize how many more people are indirectly employed by the petrochemical industry.

You have recently learned that petroleum involves many different kinds of molecules, but what happens in the petrochemical industry to the molecules in petroleum? In this lesson you will begin to investigate the petrochemical industry.

Consider the following questions as you complete Lesson 1:

What are petrochemicals?
What kinds of products result from Alberta’s petrochemical industry?

Module 6: Lesson 1 Assignment

Download a copy of the Module 6: Lesson 1 Assignment to your computer now. You will receive further instructions on how to complete this assignment later in the lesson.

Later in this lesson you will also begin to record evidence and arguments from a variety of perspectives on the use of hydrocarbons as petrochemicals or as fuel. This list will be important in completing the final assessment in this module, which takes place at the end of Lesson 6.

The other questions in this lesson are not marked by the teacher; however, you should still answer these questions. The Self-Check, Try This, and other types of questions are placed in this lesson to help you review important information and build key concepts that may be applied in future lessons. You should record the answers to all the questions in the lesson and place those answers in your course folder.

After a discussion with your teacher, you must decide what to do with the questions that are not part of your assignment. For example, you may decide to submit the responses to Try This and other questions that are not marked to your teacher for informal assessment and feedback. Your answers are very important to your teacher. They provide your teacher with information about your learning, and they help your teacher identify where adjustments to your instruction may be necessary.