Electricity Informative Speech free essay sample

Speech Outline I. Introduction A. Attention Getter: Jane Brox said, â€Å"Time and task were both disorienting. For if you were to remove everything from our lives that depends on electricity to function, homes and offices would become no more than the chambers and passages of limestone caves†¦ simple shelter from wind and rain. No way to keep out cold, or heat, for long. No way to preserve food, or to cook it. The things that define us, that without their purpose, they lose the measure of their beauty and we are left alone in the dark with countless useless things.   (Jane Brox,  Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light) B. Thesis Statement: Today I will inform you about the significance of electricity and the role it plays in our everyday lives. In 2006 Laura Robertson from http://ngm. nationalgeographic. com (Which has been around since 1888), stated that the United States of America is the worlds second largest producer and consumer of electricity. It consumes about 20% of the worlds supply of electricity, with California as the greatest consumer of all the states. C. Preview: First, I will talk to you about the beginnings of electricity, and the scientists who have helped evolve it into what we use today. Second, I will talk about what humans are trying to accomplish by harnessing and using electricity for our personal gain. Thirdly, I will be talking about electricity’s legacy and impact on human civilization. II. Body A. Topic Sentence: Electricity wasn’t truly invented by anyone; it was more of discovered, and a number of different scientists have helped shape it into what it is now. I will give you a brief timeline of electricity. 1. Claim: The first â€Å"discovery† of electricity comes to us in 600 BC from Thales of Miletus. a. Support: On June 19, 2001 The U. S. Energy Information Administration http://www. eia. gov/ (which has 2. 25 million visits per month), tells us that Thales wrote about amber becoming charged by rubbing it together. b. Impact: He was describing what we now call static electricity. 2. Claim: It wasn’t until the 1600’s where an English scientist,  William Gilbert  first coined the term electricity from the Greek word for amber. a. Support: On October 1, 1995 the Media Public Communications Office of the Commission, at http://www. nergyquest. ca. gov (Which is the award-winning energy education website of the California Energy Commission. ), stated that Gilbert wrote about the electrification of many substances in his De magnete, magneticisique corporibus. He also first used the terms electric force, magnetic pole, and electric attraction. b. Impact: This shows us that Gilbert was one of the first people to recognize the significance of electricity. 3. Claim: Energy was becoming more and more popular among people who could afford this luxury. a. Support: According to Lloyd Burrell on March 11, 2012 from http://www. aturalnews. com (Who have over 800,000 people across the globe daily. ), in 1879 and 1880 the first commercial power station opens in San Francisco, and the First power system isolated from Edison Electric Company. b. Impact: This was the birth to modern day power plants and nuclear power plants/generators due to the demand of people wanting electricity. Transition: Now that I have told you a brief history of electricity and the people who helped discover it, I am going to talk about how scientists began to harness and use electricity to our advantage. B. Topic Sentence: Scientists soon realized that the world could harness and use the power behind electricity for our own personal gain, and there are many examples of this in today’s society, such as. 1. Claim: The telephone and the telegraph are used by almost everyone these days. a. Support: On January 23, 2011 Mark Halper from http://www. time. com (Which was founded in 1923), claimed that out of the  worlds  estimated 7 billion  people, 6 billion  have  access to mobile phones, more  people  on earth  have  access to  cell phones than toilets. b. Impact: We can now talk easily to a friend or relative who is at a great distance from us. We can communicate our messages to the most distant corner of our country within no time. 2. Claim: We all knew that trains and buses run by coal and petrol respectively, but now steam engines and diesel engines are being replaced by electric engines. a. Support: On April 8, 2010, R. Cohen from http://www. journals. elsevier. com (Elseviers online network of sites reaches over 16 million professionals and scientists at corporate, academic, governmental and medical organizations each month. ), wrote that long distance trains as well as local trains in cities like Mumbai and Calcutta are being run by electric engines. Electrification of more and more railway tracks are being done. b. Impact: Since switching to electric engines, their speeds have increased greatly, and the journey of such trains becomes smoke free which is much better for our environment. 3. Claim: Electricity has changed the way of farming. a. Support: I read an article by Julie Wernaue published on July 19, 2011, from http://articles. chicagotribune. com (Which was founded in 1847) that said energy has enabled us to distribute the water of the rivers into canals and irrigate dry and barren lands. The Bhakra Dam in Punjab, the Hirakund Project in Orissa, the Damodar Valley in West Bengal, etc. owe their existence to electricity. Electricity is widely used in cutting and chaffing of crops. b. Impact: Electricity has not only changed the way of farming, but, in fact it has mechanized farming. Transition: Now that I have told you a little about how scientists have begun to harness electricity and use it to our advantage, I will now talk about electricity’s legacy and impact on human civilization. C. Topic Sentence: Electricity is like a drug and we, society are the junkies unable to live without a fix and totally dependent on electricity in almost every way possible. 1. Claim: Electricity has become a household necessity in many places around the globe. a. Support: As Melinda Beck stated on January 11, 2011, from http://online. wsj. com (Which has 34 Pulitzer Prizes) pointed out, electricity is used in a variety of ways. It is used to power everything from batteries in a childs toy to powering NASAs super computers. b. Impact: Electricity has become important for everyone, even children. 2. Claim: Our power dependent society would face many problems if we were to have a power outage for any extended amount of time. a. Support: As, Marc Lavine, Phillip Szuromi, and Robert Coonts, from http://www. sciencemag. org (Has more than 3. 7 million unique browsers to Science online each month) pointed out on November 18, 2011, some of the problems would be factories closing down,  phones  and computers going dead without the ability to recharge them, traffic slows to a crawl, food spoils in refrigerators, ICU machines in the hospital power down, the computers on every airline would fail, along with many other things would occur. . Impact: Electricity  is important because it is the most common energy we consume and depend on in our everyday lives. It is the most convenient and fastest way to supply energy. 3. Claim: Electricity is a constantly developing technology a. Support: On April 21, 2011, according to a tribune staff reporter who was not identified http://www. scienc edaily. com (Which has nearly 15 Million page views a month), in the past century and a half, electricity has steadily evolved from a scientific curiosity, to a luxury of the affluent, to a modern need. Along the way, it has been shaped by a variety of non-technological factors: economic, political, social, and environmental, to name a few. b. Impact: This shows us how electricity went from a luxury to a necessity for most people on Earth. III. Conclusion A. Review: First, I talked to you about the beginnings of electricity, and a little history on it. Second, I talked about what humans are trying to/are accomplishing by harnessing and using electricity, and thirdly, I told you about electricity’s legacy and impact on the human civilization. B. Restate Thesis: Today I informed you about the significance of electricity and the role it plays in our everyday lives. C. Closing Statements: Modern society is completely dependent on electricity. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it has become the backbone to development today. It is one of the essentials required to sustain modern urban life particularly. Electricity is not only ingrained in modern life, it’s also critical for our continued existence, electricity is the future, but is also the past and present. Research Credibility Source #1 WHO: The U. S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) WHEN: June 19, 2001 WHERE: http://www. eia. gov/ FOUNDED WHEN: First established in 1974 AUDIENCE SIZE: 2. 25 million visits per month RECOGNIZED BY: PHI’s Smart Grid Vision and Investment Grant  Awards, Search engine rankings of EIA on Google indicate very strong performance on relevant key topics, and major search engines (like Google and Bing) refer to us an average of 417,000 visitors a month searching for energy topics. MISSION TYPE: To be the primary communication channel for the U. S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and serves as the agency’s world-wide energy information point of contact. Source #2 WHO: Laura Robertson WHEN: 2006 WHERE: http://ngm. nationalgeographic. com/2010/07/power-grid/achenbach-text FOUNDED WHEN: 1888 AUDIENCE SIZE:   26 million global unique visitors a month RECOGNIZED BY: 2011 Winner of the ASME National Magazine Awards for Magazine of the Year and Single-Topic Issue MISSION TYPE: It is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, and the promotion of environmental and historical conservation. Source #3 WHO: Media Public Communications Office of the Commission WHEN: October 1, 1995 WHERE: http://www. energyquest. ca. gov/story/chapter02. html FOUNDED WHEN: 1994 AUDIENCE SIZE: RECOGNIZED BY: Energy Quest is the award-winning energy education website of the California Energy Commission. MISSION TYPE: We have a vision of a secure energy future and desire to educate the public lives. Source #4 WHO: Lloyd Burrell WHEN: 3/11/2012 WHERE: http://www. naturalnews. com/electricity. html FOUNDED WHEN: 2008 AUDIENCE SIZE: Over 800,000 people across the globe daily. RECOGNIZED BY:   The best health and natural products writer on the scene today – talking about the author. MISSION TYPE: The NaturalNews Network is a non-profit collection of public education websites covering topics that empower individuals to make positive changes in their health, environmental sensitivity, consumer choices and informed skepticism Source #5 WHO: MARK HALPER / REYKJAVIK WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011 WHERE: http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2042236,00. html FOUNDED WHEN: 1923 AUDIENCE SIZE: 17,398,000 Total U. S. Audience RECOGNIZED BY: MIN  revealed winners of the 10th annual  Best of the Web Awards. Out of over 400 submissions, Time Inc. received 8 awards across seven different categories, and Time Inc. eceived three wins and 10 honorable mentions at the  2013 FAME Awards, along with many others. MISSION TYPE: TIME separates the crucial from the trivial, converts information into knowledge, and transforms confusion into clarity through exceptional writing, first-hand reporting and stunning photography. Source #6 WHO: R. Cohen WHEN: Last Updated Apri l 8, 2010 WHERE: http://www. journals. elsevier. com/the-electricity-journal/ FOUNDED WHEN: July 1988 AUDIENCE SIZE: Elseviers online network of sites reaches over 16 million professionals and scientists at corporate, academic, governmental and medical organizations each month. RECOGNIZED BY: Awarded  Site of the Month  for June 2012 by  Speechwoman MISSION TYPE: The Electricity Journal  is the leading policy journal for the U. S. electric power  industry. The Journal is now the principal print venue for those who are, with their ideas, forging the new shape and design of the electricity/energy industry. Source #7 WHO: By Julie Wernau, Tribune reporter WHEN: July 19, 2011 WHERE: http://articles. chicagotribune. com/2011-07-19/business/ct-biz-0719-electricity-shopping-20110719_1_alternative-suppliers-viridian-energy-electricity-rates FOUNDED WHEN: June 10, 1847 AUDIENCE SIZE: 425,370 daily RECOGNIZED BY: It has won 25 of the awards over the years, The  Tribune  won its first post-McCormick Pulitzer in 1961, when  Carey Orr  won the award for editorial cartooning. Reporter George Bliss won a Pulitzer the following year for reporting, and reporter Bill Jones snagged one in 1971 for reporting. MISSION TYPE: The  Chicago Tribune  believes in the traditional principles of limited government; maximum individual responsibility; minimum restriction of personal liberty, opportunity and enterprise. It believes in free markets, free will and freedom of expression. These principles, while traditionally conservative, are guidelines and not reflexive dogmas. Source #8 WHO: Melinda Beck WHEN: January 11, 2011 WHERE: http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052748703779704576073762463762744. html FOUNDED WHEN: July 08, 1889 AUDIENCE SIZE: 800,000 domestic as a quarterly (960,000 worldwide) 1. 5 million domestic as a 6x (plus additional 160,000 internationally) RECOGNIZED BY: 34 Pulitzers MISSION TYPE: Our mission is to produce fair-minded, enterprising, well-crafted journalism that helps readers to understand their world. Source #9 WHO: Marc Lavine,  Phillip Szuromi, and  Robert Coontz WHEN: 18 November 2011 WHERE: http://www. sciencemag. org/content/334/6058/921 FOUNDED WHEN: Science has been publishing breaking news and seminal research for more than 125 years AUDIENCE SIZE: More than 3. 7 million unique browsers to Science online each month. RECOGNIZED BY: Science received the 2011 Communications Award from the American Society for Tropical Health and Hygiene in recognition of the journal’s coverage of global health issues in forming public policy regarding diseases and health conditions of poor and underserved populations. Two articles by Science’s News team in 2011 were selected for the 2012 edition of Best American Science Writing. â€Å" MISSION TYPE: Science  Careers is dedicated to being the world leader in matching qualified scientists with jobs in industry, academia, and government. We are committed to providing all the necessary career resources for scientists as well as effective recruiting solutions for employers. Source #10 WHO: Dan Hogan WHEN: Updated: Tuesday, May 1st, 2013 WHERE: http://www. ciencedaily. com/articles/matter_energy/electricity/ FOUNDED WHEN: 1995 AUDIENCE SIZE: ScienceDaily  generates nearly 15 million page views a month and is steadily growing in its global audience. RECOGNIZED BY: PC Magazine Site of the Week Reviewed March 21, 2003, Popular Science 50 Best of The Web Reviewed In October 2000 Issue MISSION TYPE: ScienceDaily  is best known for showcasing the top science news stories from the world’s leading  universities  and research organiz ations.