The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is an area of land located in the northeast corner of Alaska within the Arctic Circle that includes a potentially oil-rich coastal plain between the Beaufort Sea, the Brooks Range, and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. For the past several years, ANWR has also been the location of a national debate over energy policy. There are known oil reserves beneath the coastal plain. How much oil and how much is readily recoverable are unknowns, but the amount is enough to engage the passionate attention of advocates on both sides of the dispute. The debate is whether to drill in ANWR. This lesson plan asks students to first read an objective article from "The Seattle Times" entitled "Refuge in a Storm" which is provided in a handout and can also be accessed online. Then students discuss the background to the ANWR debate in a small group, identifying supporters and opponents of drilling and areas of dispute. The teacher guide contains a sheet entitled "To Drill or Not To Drill?" which samples various opinions on the question. The guide presents an optional extension assignment for large group discussion about whether the attack on the World Trade Center will change the nation's mind about drilling in ANWR. (BT)