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Energy is the ability to do work. It's what you get when you burn fuel (= stored energy) to move something like a car or kick a ball (= do work). That fuel can be stuff like coal or gas or the hydrogen which powers the sun. What you get is heat and light energy. You can feel the heat from a fire or from the sun on your skin. And sunlight makes our daytime. Energy can be changed from one form to another but it can't be created or destroyed
People have learned to use stored energy to do useful work for them. By burning coal, you can use the chemical energystored in the coal to heat up water until it becomes steam which then drives large machines to generate electricity. Electricity is another form of energy and it too can be made to do useful work, like running your washing machine or powering your computer and mp3 player. But electricity doesn't have to be made by burning coal. It can be made from renewable energy sources like wind and water power. It can also be made by nuclear power.
Activity 1. Complete your diagram using the picture from above.
Lets focus on electrical energy and how it is made. Remember from our recent discussion about the atom? The two parts inside the atom are the protons ( which have a positive charge) and neutrons (no charge) . On the outside, floating around are the electrons. These have a negative charge. Electricity is created by the movement of electrons from one source to another. Certain materials move electrons easily. These are called conductors. Electricity is caused by electrons, the tiny particles that "orbit" around the edges of atoms, from which everything is made. Each electron has a small negative charge. An atom normally has an equal number of electrons and protons (positively charged particles in its nucleus or center), so atoms have no overall electrical charge. A piece ofrubber is made from large collections of atoms called molecules. Since the atoms have no electrical charge, the molecules have no charge either—and nor does the rubber.
Suppose you rub a balloon on your jumper over and over again. As you move the balloon back and forward, you give it energy. The energy from your hand makes the balloon move. As it rubs against the wool in your jumper, some of the electrons in the rubber molecules are knocked free and gather on your body. This leaves the balloon with slightly too few electrons. Since electrons are negatively charged, having too few electrons makes the balloon slightly positively charged. Your jumper meanwhile gains these extra electrons and becomes negatively charged. Your jumper is negatively charged, and the balloon is positively charged. Opposite charges attract, so your jumper sticks to the balloon.
Current electricity
Current electricity
When electrons move, they carry electrical energy from one place to another. This is called current electricity or an electric current. A lightning bolt is one example of an electric current, although it does not last very long. Electric currents are also involved in powering all the electrical appliances that you use, from washing machines to flashlights and from telephones to MP3 players. These electric currents last much longer.
Materials such as copper metal that conduct electricity (allow it to flow freely) are called conductors. Materials that don't allow electricity to pass through them so readily, such as rubber and plastic, are called insulators. What makes copper a conductor and rubber an insulator?
A current of electricity is a steady flow of electrons. When electrons move from one place to another, round a circuit, they carry electrical energy from place to place like marching ants carrying leaves. Instead of carrying leaves, electrons carry a tiny amount of electric charge.
Electricity can travel through something when its structure allows electrons to move through it easily. Metals like copper have "free" electrons that are not bound tightly to their parent atoms. These electrons flow freely throughout the structure of copper and this is what enables an electric current to flow. In rubber, the electrons are more tightly bound. There are no "free" electrons and, as a result, electricity does not really flow through rubber at all. Conductors that let electricity flow freely are said to have a high conductance and a low resistance; insulators that do not allow electricity to flow are the opposite: they have a low conductance and a high resistance.
Activity 2: Explain in your journal how an electrical current is created.
Lab 1. Balloon and hair
Lab 2. demonstrating static electricity with water and a comb.
Lab 3. Battery and Christmas lights.
Activity 1: Write down the following questions. Read the passage below to answer them.
1. What is a fossil fuel and where do they come from?
2. The three fossil fuels are__________.
3. Another name for oil is ________________
4. Natural gas is made of __________________
5. We add a ________________________ to make natural gas smell bad.
6. You can find coal __________________________.
Fossil Fuel Energy - Oil
Fossil fuels are non-renewable energy sources that formed more than 300 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period - long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Fossil fuels are made up ofplant and animal matter. When plants and animals died, their bodies decomposed and were buried under layers of earth. Millions of years later we have the three forms of fossil fuel: oil, natural gas and coal.
Oil is a thick, black, gooey liquid also called petroleum. It's found way down in the ground, usually between layers of rock. To get oil out, a well is dug. Digging a well is like putting a straw into a can of pop. The oil is then pumped out of the ground, just like when you suck pop up the straw. Oil is carried in pipelines and large tanker ships. A refinery changes the oil into products like gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel. It's also burned in factories and power plants to make electricity. The oil is burned, which produces gases that turn a turbine to create electricity.
Fossil Fuel Energy - Natural Gas
Fossil Fuel Energy - Natural Gas
Fossil Fuel Energy - Natural Gas
Fossil Fuel Energy - Natural Gas
Natural gas is lighter than air. Natural gas is made out of methane, which is a simple chemical compound made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. This gas is highly flammable, so no farting near it. Natural gas is found near oil in the ground. It's pumped, just like oil, from wells that tap into the source and send it to large pipelines. Because you can't smell or see natural gas, it is mixed with a chemical to give it a stinky smell - like rotten eggs. That way, it's easy to tell if there's a leak.
After the stinky chemical is added, the natural gas is sent through underground pipes which go to your home so you can cook food and heat your house. It's also sent to factories and power plants to make electricity. Natural gas is burned to produce heat, which boils water, creating steam, which passes through a turbine to generate electricity.
Fossil Fuel Energy - Coal
Fossil Fuel Energy - Coal
Coal comes in several different forms from hard black rocks (that's the kind you get in your stocking at Christmas) to soft brown dirt. Some forms burn hotter and cleaner than others. Coal is used to create more than half of all the electricity made in the US. In the states, many of the coal beds are near the ground's surface. We get to the coal by mining for it. Most coal is transported by trains to power plants where it's burned to make steam. The steam turns turbines, which produce electricity.
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=22774&CategoryID=2484
How long until each one is depleted?
Activity 1 Go to the following link. Write down four interesting facts from each page. http://climatekids.nasa.gov/fossil-fuels-coal/
Activity 2 Brain Pop: Fossil Fuels- watch the video and take the quiz.
Activity 3: Choose one of the following topics: mountain top mining, fracking, oil spills,
gold mining, copper mining, diamond mining, cobalt mining,
Answer the following questions: Where is it being done? Major companies involved. What is it being used for? Environmental issues.
Day 3 Greenhouse Effect
Activity 4 Go to the following site and read the section. https://climatekids.nasa.gov/greenhouse-effect/
Take notes
Extra Files:
greenhouse-effect-coloring.pdf (319k)Kathy Dougherty, Nov 30, 2017, 6:22 AM
template for types of energy.docx (20k)Kathy Dougherty, Jan 3, 2016, 9:40 AM
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