Research - Energy Project Organizer

The Energy Story

You've Got the Power

Winds of Change

Visit: 1) Kid Wind
2) Wind Energy History Timeline
3) Wind Power Basics 4) Wind Farms
5) Wind Technology

1. The word "energy" has two parts -- the Greek words 'en' and 'ergon'. What do the Greek words mean?
Explain why they were chosen to form the word energy.

2. What is one thing in your every day life that would change dramatically without energy?

3. How does the U.S. compare with other countries as far as our usage of wind energy?

4. What is the government doing to try to encourage the use of wind energy?

Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy

As you investigate renewable and nonrenewable energy, make sure you can:

Explain why the world is beginning to experiment with alternative energy sources.
List types of renewable energy and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.
List types of nonrenewable energy sources and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Energy Sources which Can Be Replenished
Example - Geothermal

Energy Sources which Cannot Be Replenished
Example - Coal

Renewable energy sources can be replenished in a short period of time.

Read about Renewable Energy Sources and answer the questions.

1. The video explained how geothermal energy -- a renewable energy source -- works.
What is another renewable energy source?

2. How does using renewable energy help the environment? the economy?

Energy sources that cannot be replenished in a short period of time.

Read about Nonrenewable Energy Sources and answer the questions.

3. Nonrenewable energy comes from fossil fuels. Explain what that means.

4. How does using nonrenewable energy help the environment? the economy?

Motion - Kinetic Energy

Kinetic energy is energy of motion and movement. Investigate this section and learn how motion can be used as an energy source. Objects and substances move when a force is applied according to Newton's Laws of Motion.

Newton's Laws of Motion
Motion to Energy Website

M2E Power
Idaho National Labs Intro
Motion to Energy Website

Idaho Green Living
Turning Motion Into Power
Motion to Energy Website

1. Explain one discovery that Isaac Newton made about motion.

2. Give an example of how motion can be turned into energy.

3. Why is M2E considered “green” energy?

Thermal Energy

Which atoms move more quickly- atoms that are cool or warm ones? I hope you said warm ones. That increased movement results in an increase in temperature. Investigate this section and see how heat can be used to create energy.

Energy Story - Geothermal 1

Energy Story - Geothermal 2

from The Energy Story

Solar Thermal Energy

Ocean Thermal Energy

Geothermal Energy
Yellowstone National Park

How
A Geothermal Plant Works

1. Not every area is suitable for geothermal energy. What must be in place in order to produce power using geothermal energy?

2. Denmark has relied on wind energy for years, but has found, in some areas, a different way to get their hot water. Explain how this works.

3. California has many areas that could one day generate power using geothermal energy. Give 3 ways this would help the residents of California, as well as the rest of the country.

Electricity

STOP! Before you plug in that radio, do you know how that energy got to your house? Investigate this section to find out and to learn why that doorknob shocks you when you touch it.

Nikola Tesla

"Tesla is often described as the most important scientist and inventor of the modern age... He is best known for many revolutionary contributions in the field of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries." Wikipedia

School House Rock

Electric Circuit

Introduction

Electricity & Circuits

Potato Experiment

Generators

From The Energy Story

1. Explain in your own words how electricity is generated.
Try to use words such as electrons, magnet, generator, current, etc.

2. Series and Parallel are two types of circuits.
Why would you want your home wired with parallel circuits and not series circuits?

Radiant Energy

Radiant is the energy of electromagnetic waves. Examples include: radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. Solar energy is an example of radiant energy.

My dog’s favorite place to lie is under a window on a sunny day. The bright rays heat up the room and keep her comfortable. That is radiant heat. Remember how you get close to the fire in the winter so that you can warm your hands and face? That also is radiant energy, and all that energy becomes thermal energy as it warms us. Investigate this section and learn how the sun’s radiant energy can be used to create energy

You can learn more about radiant heating at this website from the U.S. Department of Energy - A Consumer's Guide to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - Radiant Heat .

X-Rays

Invisible, highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation of a much shorter wavelength than visible light, discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm C. Roentgen.

Radio Waves

Teachers' Domain, Radio Waves & Electromagnetic Fields,
published April 19, 2007,
retrieved on February 18, 2009

Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation with long wavelengths and relative low energy.

To learn more about how radio signals are broadcast, check out How Is a Radio Wave Emitted? and Radio Waves: FM vs. AM.

To learn more about how sound is transmitted through a radio broadcast, check out Radio Transmission.To learn more about the electromagnetic spectrum, check out The Electromagnetic Spectrum: FRONTLINE and Tour the Electromagnetic Spectrum.

To learn more about the relationship between electricity and magnetism, check out .

Energy Story - Solar

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

1. Who would have ever thought that tape cold be used to make X-rays?
How would this be helpful to undeveloped countries?

2. Our calculators work using solar energy.
Name 3 other ways that solar energy can be used.

3. If a community depended on solar energy to make electricity, they would have to have an alternate plan for nighttime and cloudy days. What do they do to ensure there is no interruption of service?

Sound Energy

"Sound is a vibration. When something makes a noise it is vibrating, and this causes air molecules around it to vibrate too. These vibrations are transmitted through the air, to our ears, where we perceive them as sound." You'll find out more about sound, learn how to perform a simple sound experiment, and find out about the loudest animal on earth at the Sound Web Page.

Sound is Energy

Sound Waves

Teachers' Domain, Sound, published April 19, 2007. Retrieved February 18, 2009.

Sound & Solids

Teachers' Domain, Sound and Solids: Listening Stick, published January 22, 2004, retrieved on February 18, 2009.

1. How does increasing or decreasing the amplitude affect the sound?

2. How does increasing or decreasing the frequency affect the sound?

3. Does sound travel better through air or a solid? Explain how you could prove your answer.

Chemical Energy

We probably use chemical energy more than any other kind of energy. It is stored in batteries that power our cell phones, gasoline that powers our cars, and in fossil fuels that we burn for power. Explore this section to learn how chemical energy can be as simple as the energy in a food web or as complex as the energy in a hydrogen fueled car.

Hydrogen Car

Teachers' Domain, Global Warming: The Hydrogen Car, published February 20, 2004, retrieved on February 18, 2009,

Food Web

Teachers' Domain, Energy Flow in the Coral Reef Ecosystem, published April 19, 2007, retrieved on February 18, 2009

Acids & Bases Rocket Car

Teachers' Domain, Acids and Bases: Testing Rocket Cars, published February 20, 2004, retrieved on February 18, 2009

1. Many people assume that hydrogen cars would not pollute the environment.
Explain why this is not entirely true.

2. Chemical energy is passed from one organism to another in a coral reef.
Why could we say that all of these organisms depend on the sun?

3. Gasoline, hydrogen and coal are all chemicals that provide energy.
What is providing the energy in the bottle rocket?

Nuclear Energy

"Albert Einstein was one of the first to realize that the amount of energy locked inside matter is almost limitless. To harness the extraordinary power potential of fission and prevent runaway chain reactions from occurring, engineers have designed controlled environments called reactors. A typical reactor consists of a core, where the nuclear reactions take place, turbines, and a cooling system. In most reactors, the fuel is U-235, a fissionable isotope of uranium." (Teachers' Domain, Get Close to a Nuclear Fission Reaction!, published January 29, 2004)

How Nuclear Works

Inside a Reactor

Coal vs Nuclear

Einstein's Equation

1. What are 3 advantages to using nuclear power?

2. What are 3 disadvantages to using nuclear energy?

3. How does the energy output from coal differ from the energy output from uranium?