Your Renewable Energy World Teacher's Guide
INTRODUCTION
Your Renewable Energy World is an activity booklet that teaches basic principles about the main renewable energy resources used in the world today, and the advantages and challenges of each of these resources. The content supports relevant National Science Education Standards in the areas of physical and earth sciences. Topics include forms of energy, renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, electricity generation, electrical circuits, and energy conservation tips for home and school.
This presentation guide provides the objective for each lesson, background and ideas for classroom discussion, and activity answers.
Page 2: The Way We Use Energy Is Changing
Objective: To help students understand why our society is moving toward an increased use of renewable energy resources, as well as the distinction between renewable and nonrenewable energy resources, especially regarding their impact on climate change.
Background/Discussion: Explain to students why understanding the differences between nonrenewable and renewable resources is particularly important now. Utilities have been transitioning toward generating more of their electricity from renewables in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions. By knowing the advantages and challenges of various renewable energy resources, students will be better equipped to make informed energy decisions when they become voters and consumers. Learning about energy may also inspire career choices in this industry.
Page 3: What Is Energy?
Objective: To familiarize students with the various forms of energy.
Background/Discussion: Explain that energy is the ability to do work. This can also be understood as the ability to change or move matter. Matter is anything that takes up space or has a mass of any kind. Any change or movement of matter requires energy. Without energy there would be no motion, no light, and no heat, and life would not exist. Ask students where they get their energy. (Food.) Ask them where the appliances in their homes get energy. (Sources like electricity or natural gas.)
This lesson helps support a common physical science content standard: Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a chemical. To better understand the concepts on this page, students will benefit from a description of the structure of the atom. (An atom is the smallest unit of matter. Everything in the world is made of different combinations of atoms. Every atom has a nucleus in the center. Tiny particles called electrons travel around the nucleus.)
Word Find Activity: The following energy words and phrases are highlighted in green throughout the booklet:
Page 3 – electrons, atoms, molecules, nucleus, fission, nuclei, fusion
Page 4 – generator, turbine
Page 5 – electrical circuit
Page 6 – uranium
Page 7 – wind power, solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy
Page 8 – solar cells
Page 14 – biomass, methane gas
Page 4: How Electricity Is Made
Objective: To explain how electricity is generated at a power plant (by the turning of turbines that generate a flow of electricity), and how renewable energy sources turn turbines.
Background/Discussion: The illustration is a simplified diagram of how energy is generated and then transported to buildings. Inside the brown circle is a magnified depiction of the generator, which is housed inside the power plant (the gray building at the top right of the illustration). Within the generator, energy is transferred from the energy source to the turbine blades. The turbine is attached to an axle and a very large magnet. The spinning of the turbine causes the axle and magnet to spin. As the magnet spins, it creates a flow of electricity in the huge coil of wire surrounding it. The mechanical energy of the spinning coil changes to electrical energy in the wire, which is then hooked up to power lines.
The electricity then travels along power lines supported by tall towers (top center), and then through substations (blue image at top left), where the strength of the electricity is reduced. From there, it travels along distribution lines (supported by power poles) to homes and other buildings. The illustration does not include a depiction of underground power lines, but in some neighborhoods power lines are not on poles but buried under the ground. Ask students if they have seen any electrical equipment in their neighborhood or town. Explain the importance of these in bringing electricity to their homes and school, and ask the class to name all of the things in their classroom that use electricity.
Puzzle Answers:
1. Wind power
2. Hydropower
3. Geothermal
4. Biomass
5. Solar power