Your Renewable Energy World Print1234567
Layer It On Activity: Students should draw the core in the center of the illustration, then the mantle, the magma, and finally the crust as the outermost layer.
Bonus: Geothermal activity is found in many parts of the world and is used to generate electricity in the western United States, Russia, China, France, Sweden, Hungary, Romania, and Japan.
Page 14: Growing Energy – Biomass
Objective: To explain the various types of biomass energy that can be used for electricity generation and transportation, and to explore the advantages and challenges of this energy resource.
Background/Discussion: While wood is the largest biomass resource, biomass also comes from agricultural crop waste, municipal and industrial waste, and energy farms where crops are grown specifically for energy production. Like fossil fuels and nuclear energy, biomass can be burned to heat water into steam, which is pressurized and used to turn a turbine. Biomass can also be converted to methane gas and used for fuel. Methane is created when organic waste decomposes in landfills (through the process of anaerobic bacterial digestion) and can then be siphoned off and used to power turbines that generate electricity. Biomass resources can also be used to produce liquid transportation fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel
Landfill in a Bag Activity: The process taking place inside the sealed bag is anaerobic digestion, which has methane gas as one of its by-products. This is one form of creating energy from leftover waste. If this bag were at a biomass power plant, the odorous gas inside the bag would be used to heat water into steam to turn a turbine!
Page 15: Inventing Our Energy Future
Objective: To motivate students to think creatively about what our energy supplies will be in the future.
Inventor’s Challenge Activity: Encourage students to share their energy ideas with a partner or with the whole class.
Bonus: As a synthesizing activity to cover all the forms of renewables resources that have been discussed in the book, ask students to create a large chart describing all the pros and cons for each of the energy sources listed in the booklet. This could be done in groups or together as a class on the board.
Back Cover: Energy Saver Quiz
Objective: To teach students 10 easy ways to save energy at home, and to encourage students and their families to practice these energy-saving habits together.
Background/Discussion: Discuss with students how saving energy helps the environment and can also help families save money. Assign students the quiz for homework and ask them to do it together with a parent or other adult. Ask students to bring the completed quizzes and signed pledges back to class. As a group, predict which energy-saving habits are most common among your class. Then review the results of the quiz. For each habit, tally the A’s, S’s, and N’s and post them on the board in a list or chart. Which habits are most common? Which are least common? Explore with students why some energy-saving behaviors may be easier for their families to adopt than others.