Energy Roundup

Activity 2: Energy Roundup

&Background

This activity is a quick and fun way for students to learn more or check their understanding about energy sources used in the United States.

Objectives

ƒStudents will be able to identify an energy source as renewable or nonrenewable. ƒStudents will be able to list some simple facts about each of the ten energy sources.

Time

ƒ15-30 minutes

 Materials

ƒColored cardstock, posterboard, or construction paper, 5 pieces each of 2 colors ƒScissors ƒTape ƒEnergy Source Facts, page 68 ƒEnergy Source Cards, page 69

2Preparation

ƒDecide if you will make re-usable posters (see Extensions). ƒGather materials. ƒCut Energy Source Cards apart for game use.

Procedure for Making Posters

1. Print the Energy Source Cards so that you have one card per student and an equal number of each energy source. Cut the graphics out and laminate, if necessary. 2. On sheets of plain paper, write down or print the energy facts for each energy source. Do NOT write the names of the energy sources on these plain sheets of paper. 3. Number ten pieces of paper, one through ten, in large numbers. 4. Prepare five posters for the nonrenewable energy sources and five posters for the renewable energy sources in another color, as follows.

Mount one fact sheet to the lower half of each poster board, making sure the fact sheets correspond to the colors of the poster boards.

Mount the top edge of the number sheets near the top of the posters. Do not secure the bottom edge of the number sheets to the posters; the number sheets will be used as flaps. 5. Write the names of the energy sources on the posters, underneath the number sheet flaps. Lightly secure the bottom edge of the number sheets with tape to the posters.

Procedure for Game Play

1. Mount the posters around the walls of the room. Space the posters equally apart and set up chairs for each station, if desired. 2. Explain that you have hung posters with clues around the room, and you will give them a card with an energy source. Students are to locate the poster they think describes their energy source without speaking to each other. Allow students only a few minutes to do this – up to 7 minutes maximum. 3. Have students carefully lift the flap covering the energy source name to check themselves, without revealing its identity to the rest of the class. Allow 2 or 3 more minutes for students to locate their correct posters, if necessary. 4. Allow energy source groups to select the three least revealing or most difficult to guess clues about their energy sources. Start with one group and have them read the three clues they suggested. The first group to guess that energy source correctly will then read their three difficult clues, and play progresses in this manner until all groups have read their clues.

Extension

ƒLaminate the poster board and numbered flaps for repeated use, and tape new printed copies of energy source facts.

Energy Source Facts

Nonrenewable Energy Sources

PETROLEUM

1. I am most used for transportation fuel. 2. A lot of me is imported from other countries. 3. Most of me is refined into gasoline. 4. I’m number one in the U.S., providing 37 percent of America’s total energy consumption. 5. I am a liquid found in rocks underground.

COAL

1. I am used to make electricity. 2. I’m transported mostly by trains. 3. When I am burned, I make dust, soot, and chemicals. 4. I’m America’s most available fossil fuel. 5. I am a rock that must be mined.

NATURAL GAS

1. I heat a lot of homes. 2. I’m colorless and odorless gas. 3. I can be used by stoves and ovens for cooking. 4. I am used to make electricity and lots of products in industry. 5. I have an odor added to me that smells like rotten eggs.

URANIUM

1. I’m used only for generating electricity. 2. My atoms have lots of energy inside them. 3. My power plants are called reactors. 4. I come from rocks that are mined from the Earth. 5. Workers at my powerplants wear special clothing to keep them safe from radiation.

PROPANE

1. I’m colorless and odorless fuel. 2. I’m often stored in round tanks. 3. I can be used for barbecues. 4. I can power farms and forklifts. 5. I am under a lot of pressure.

Renewable Energy Sources

HYDROPOWER

1. I require the Earth’s gravity to work. 2. I make electricity. 3. I only work in certain areas around water. 4. My facilities can disrupt wildlife and fish populations. 5. The water cycle is important to me. I can’t generate electricity without rain.

BIOMASS

1. I can be used to generate electricity. 2. I can be used to make transportation fuel. 3. Burning me can produce air pollution. 4. I get my energy from wood, garbage, and other waste. 5. My name means living materials.

GEOTHERMAL

1. I can be used to make electricity. 2. I can be used for home heating and cooling. 3. My energy comes from the Earth’s core. 4. My name means heat from Earth. 5. You have to go below ground to get to me.

WIND

1. I am used to make electricity. 2. I make electricity with big towers called turbines. 3. I can be found on land and on the water. 4. My energy comes from moving air. 5. I produce no air pollution.

SOLAR

1. I’m not usable at all hours of the day. 2. I make electricity. 3. I can also be used for water and home heating. 4. I work better in some parts of the country than others. 5. I’m free to use, but you have to buy the technology.