Renewable
ENERGY
Joshua Sneideman and Erin Twamley
Build It YOURSELF Series
er the Fuel of t Discov he F utu J E O C R T P S re with 20
Illustrated by Heather Jane Brinesh
CONTENTS Timeline . . . v Introduction Opening Ceremonies . . . 1 Chapter 1 The Power of the Sun . . . 13 Chapter 2 Farming the Wind . . . 29 Chapter 3 Planet Water . . . 46 Chapter 4 Mother Earth’s Beating Heart . . . 64 Chapter 5 Circle of Life . . . 79 Chapter 6 Energizing Our Future . . . 97 Glossary | Metric Conversions Resources | Essential Questions | Index
Interested in Primary Sources? Look for this icon. Use a smartphone or tablet app to scan the QR code and explore more about renewable energy! You can find a list of URLs on the Resources page. If the QR code doesn’t work, try searching the Internet with the Keyword Prompts to find other helpful sources.
renewable energy
Chapter 1
THE POWER OF THE SUN Legend says that the Olympic torch was once lit with fire from the sun. While we can’t actually get close enough to the sun to steal its fire, we can use energy from the sun in many different ways.
People have been using solar power since the beginning of human history, but it’s only recently that we’ve developed the technologies we need to harness the energy of the sun. Scientists and engineers are now working to make these ESSENTIAL QUESTION technologies more efficient and more useful every day. How can we use the
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sun to produce energy here on the earth?
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RENEWABLE ENERGY efficient: wasting as little as possible.
data: facts about something that can be analyzed.
rays: lines of light that come from a bright object. absorb: to soak up a liquid
Plugged In In one day, the earth receives more energy from the sun than the world uses in one year! The sun will make energy for billions of years. We will never run out of it.
or take in energy, heat, light, or sound.
reflect: to redirect something that hits a surface, such as heat, light, or sound.
species: a group of living
things that are closely related and can produce young.
solar panel: a device used to capture sunlight and convert it to usable energy. STEM: stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Add art for STEAM.
WORDS TO KNOW
What is the sun? Most people think of the sun as a featureless, unchanging ball of light. The sun is actually the star at the center of our solar system. Without it, we wouldn’t exist.
For centuries, people have studied the sun. Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have studied the sun with satellites that are capable of collecting lots of data. This data shows that the sun’s energy is released in a regular pattern.
Solar energy comes to the earth in the form of rays. There are many types of rays, including radio, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma rays. The sun emits different kinds of rays, including ultraviolet, visible light, and infrared. Some of these rays are absorbed and some are reflected back into space by the earth’s atmosphere. The rays that are absorbed help to warm our atmosphere and make it possible for different species to live here. 14
THE POWER OF THE SUN
Solar Electricity Humans have used solar energy throughout history. We know the sun’s rays were used to help build fires as early as 700 BCE. A “heat ray” weapon used in 214–212 BCE concentrated the sun’s energy using mirrors to burn sails on warring ships. But solar energy must be converted into electricity so that we can use it today. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, so how do we use solar energy? Today, we convert solar energy into electricity that we use to power many things. These include devices in our homes and businesses and different means of transportation. One of the most common ways of turning solar energy into power is with solar panels.
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Look around your neighborhood. Do you see any solar panels? You might see them on the roofs of buildings or freestanding in fields or yards. Solar panels can power streetlights, parking garages, houses, businesses, calculators, and even radios.
Solar Jobs Solar jobs are considered to be “clean” or “green” jobs. This term refers to jobs that help protect our environment and the earth. Solar jobs require knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. You might have heard these subjects called the STEM or STEAM subjects. STEM jobs, especially in renewable energy, are fast growing and diverse.
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RENEWABLE ENERGY engineer: a person who uses
science, math, and creativity to design and build things.
In Holland, engineers have designed a new solar bike path that generates generate: to create something or to produce energy. enough solar-powered electricity to light the path and other areas in the WORDS TO KNOW neighborhood. Can you imagine if all our sidewalks, driveways, and roads were made out of solar panels? We would have enough electricity for everyone on Earth.
Solar-Powered Transportation What kind of car does your family drive? It’s probably a car that uses gasoline. It might be a car that uses electricity, or maybe it’s a hybrid of the two. What about a solar-powered car?
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Today, solar-powered car races are held in Europe, the United States, and Australia. The first race was in Switzerland in 1985. It was called the Tour de Sol. The World Solar Challenge is a 3,000-kilometer solar car race across Australia. In the last American Solar racecar challenge, solar-powered cars drove from Texas to Minnesota. At the Texas Motor Speedway, the Solar Car Challenge is an annual event. Even high school students are entering solar races. Maybe your neighborhood high school will N J EE O join the race.
Engineers Engineers are people who design and build new products, such as solar bike paths. Engineers are problem solvers. A current challenge in creating solar panels is to design them so that they can hold the weight of humans, cars, and bikes without breaking. This would enable us to have solar roads! Check out the video on the opening of a solar bike path in the Netherlands. 16
Netherlands glow cycle path
THE POWER OF THE SUN
Plugged In Can we use solar power at night? Yes! We can’t collect the sun’s energy at night, but we can use stored solar energy from the day.
If you can put a solar panel on a car and race it 3,000 kilometers, then what could you do with an airplane?
In August 2015, the first solar-powered plane flew around the world without using a single drop of fossil fuel. The flight of Solar Impulse included five days and nights of flying nonstop.
For decades, NASA has been using solar panels to power its missions, from satellites that orbit the earth to the International Space Station. Solar-powered space flight isn’t new. NASA first used solar power in 1964 on a satellite called Nimbus 1. Aeronautical engineers began designing solar flight vehicles in the 1970s. Today, NASA is planning for human spaceflight to Mars with its Orion program. This mission is highly dependent on solar panels for success. 17
RENEWABLE ENERGY thermal: energy in the form of heat. GR
used to heat water from the sun and convert it into electricity.
photovoltaics: technology
used to convert sunlight into electricity.
photon: a particle of light. solar cell: a photovoltaic cell that converts sunlight directly into electricity.
matter: what an object is
made of. Anything that has weight and takes up space.
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solar thermal: technology
Installers and Technicians Two of the most important jobs in the solar industry are solar installers and technicians. Solar installers are the people who know how solar panels work and can attach them to roofs, airplanes, and cars. Businesses around the country specialize in solar installations. Technicians are people who can help monitor and repair solar systems once they are put in place.
WORDS TO KNOW
Capturing the Sun All of this solar energy is great, but how does it get from being the sun’s rays to powering our cars and homes? The sun would not be a useful renewable energy without our solar inventions. We can capture the energy using solar thermal technology or photovoltaics. There are two ways to generate electricity using photovoltaics. One method uses solar panels and the other uses reflective mirrors.
Sunlight is composed of photons. Photons are tiny particles of solar energy. It was Albert Einstein who helped us understand that light consists of photons. These photons contain a very specific amount of energy. A solar cell is the technology that can convert solar energy from a photon directly into electricity.
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THE POWER OF THE SUN The first solar cells were created in 1954 at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. Three scientists made these cells from silicon. Silicon is a common substance found in sand. It is used to make computer chips.
When traveling through empty space, all photons move at the speed of light, about 186,411 miles per second. One of the most important qualities of a photon is that it can collide with other matter. When photons strike a solar cell, they can be absorbed, passed through, or reflected. Photons whose energy is absorbed can make electricity.
Solar Power in Space Take a look at the International Space Station. What is it covered in? Solar panels! All the solar panels on the space station could cover one whole football field. This also makes the station the second-brightest object in the night sky. You can see pictures of space station solar panels NASA the space station here. Want to know when and where you can see the International Space Station? With a parent’s permission, sign up for alerts from NASA. spot the station
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RENEWABLE ENERGY researcher: a person who systematically studies something. carbon footprint: the total
amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service, or by a person, family, or community in a year.
concentrate: to bring or direct toward the center.
The biggest challenge in using solar energy is the efficiency of the panels. Scientists, researchers, and engineers are working to improve the design and efficiency of solar panels.
The solar panels from the 1950s were not very efficient. Back then, energy to heat buildings or water. only 5 percent of the energy that reached a panel’s surface was WORDS TO KNOW converted into electricity. That means 95 percent of the energy was being lost! Through research and innovation, engineers are constantly improving the efficiency of solar panel designs. A solar panel created in 2015 at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado keeps up to 45 percent of the sun’s energy. passive solar: use of the sun’s
The increased efficiency of solar panels means fewer panels are needed to power a house, business, or city. Consider the Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant in Tangtse, India. High in the Himalayas at nearly 14,500 feet, this power plant powers a remote village of about 400 homes. How efficient will solar panels be 50 years into the future?
Solar Explorer Bertrand Piccard, one of the men who flew on the Solar Impulse, was also the first person to fly a hot air balloon around the world. He says, “If what you are doing is easy, everyone else would have already done it.” You can listen to an interview with him and see videos of the solar-powered plane. Piccard airplane land rover
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Solar Thermal Energy Engineers have designed another way to capture energy from the sun. Solar thermal energy turns the power of the sun into heat. There are two different types of solar thermal energy systems: concentrated solar power and passive solar power.
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Solar energy is free. It produces no pollution and leaves no carbon footprint. This makes solar one of the renewables with the most potential to continue to grow.
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THE POWER OF THE SUN
Researcher Research jobs are key in the development of solar technology and other renewables. Researchers investigate problems using data. Solar researchers may study solar cells, photons, and materials used to make solar panels. Remember, we are still trying to create that super-efficient solar panel.
Concentrated solar power (CSP) uses mirrors to reflect a large area of sunlight onto a smaller area. The mirrors automatically track the sun throughout the day. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light heats up water and converts it to steam, powering a generator. CSP is mainly found in sunny states.
There are different types of CSP plants. A solar power tower can produce temperatures of more than 900 degrees Fahrenheit. The largest solar Ivanpah power tower is the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation System. Located in southern California, it uses three towers to produce enough electricity to power 100,000 homes.
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RENEWABLE ENERGY turbine: a device that uses pressure on blades by water, air, or steam to spin generators and create electricity.
WORDS TO KNOW The second type of CSP solar uses curved mirrors to reflect the sun’s rays and convert water to steam. The mirrors are shaped like half-pipes and are 94 percent reflective.
The sunlight bounces off the mirrors and is directed to a central tube, which heats to more than 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The reflected light focused at the central tube is 80 times more intense than ordinary sunlight.
The heat in the tube is used to boil water. Then the steam turns a turbine, generating electricity. The Kramer Solar Power Junction facility in California, which uses this technology, can Plugged In power up to 500,000 homes. The U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC, has solar panels on its rooftop. More than 900 solar panels cover nearly 2,000 square feet on the roof to help power the building.
How do we capture the sun’s energy with no electronics or wiring? It’s called passive solar heat. This approach uses black surfaces or pipes to quickly heat water, called passive solar water heating. It is used in many places around the world. People run water through black pipes placed on the roofs of their homes to save energy.
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THE POWER OF THE SUN Make a list of all the things you have to do when you use hot water for cooking or bathing. How does having the water warmed in pipes on your roof help save energy? Have you ever thought about where your hot water comes from?
Green Schools There are more than 3,700 schools around the United States using solar technology! One of those is an elementary school in rural Bowling Green, Kentucky. The school is using solar panels to power its classrooms, gyms, and cafeteria. This won it an award: the first net-zero school in the United States. What is net zero? It means they produce all the energy they use. If they had an electric bill, it would be zero dollars!
Powering Our Lives With the Sun Solar technologies are used around the world. From the first solarpaneled home built in the United States in 1948 in Massachusetts to the first solar panels on the White House installed under President Jimmy Carter in 1979, the solar industry has grown tremendously.
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Businesses, homes, energy utilities, and schools are joining the solar revolution. More than 2.5 million students in the United States attend schools that use forms of solar technology. NJ
Green Business People Are you interested in helping the solar industry grow? You might become a real estate agent, bank financier, or marketer for solar companies. All of these jobs have roles to play in helping people use solar. Real estate agents can help people learn about the value of a house with solar panels. Bankers help schools, businesses, and families get loans to install and maintain solar energy systems. Marketers are needed to help solar companies sell their products.
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RENEWABLE ENERGY
Solar power isn’t just an environmental convenience. It can also can help save lives. In Africa and Asia, there are still millions of people living without electricity. The houses don’t have light switches and power outlets. Many families still burn wood to heat their homes, cook their food, and light their homes at night. Solar panels can change access to electricity.
Africa has an abundance of sunshine. Solar panels are a potential solution. However, there are two obstacles to making this the future of energy. We need engineers and scientists to design and manufacture the solar technology, and leaders who demand change.
With the abundance of sunshine on our planet, why aren’t we creating more solar electricity? Solar is one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies, but it still has a long way to go. Let’s explore another renewable energy that has the potential to change the way we treat our planet—wind!
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION Now it’s time to consider and discuss the Essential Question: How can we use the sun to produce energy here on the earth?
THE POWER OF THE SUN ENERGY TRADE-OFFS
Solar Energy Trade-offs Solar energy offers incredible potential for the future. But no single energy source is perfect. Solar energy has pros, but also potential cons. What are the trade-offs of switching to solar energy? First, solar energy can be unpredictable. While we have the ability to forecast weather, one can never be entirely certain what tomorrow’s weather will be. If it is excessively cloudy or foggy, that reduces the amount of energy that solar panels produce. On cloudy days, solar panels generate power, just less of it. But what if it’s cloudy for an entire week? It is possible that solar technology will not produce enough energy when we need it. We need ways to store solar energy for whenever the sun doesn’t shine, such as cloudy days and nighttime. We humans have come to rely on the predictability of our energy supply. What would happen if you couldn’t run your computer or power your car? Can you think of who might be most affected by an unpredictable energy supply? Factories might be in the middle of making something, emergency workers could be using power to help someone, and elevators might be transporting people in tall buildings. We can all be impacted by fluctuations in energy supply. Where we find solar energy is also an important consideration. Can you guess which areas have the most predictable weather for solar energy? If you guessed desert regions, you are correct. In the desert, there is less rain and less cloud cover. That makes America’s Desert Southwest an incredible area for producing solar power. Solar technology requires a large area to produce enough energy to power cities and towns. Solar fields that stretch over large areas can impact wildlife and scenery. When considering solar energy, city planners and utility companies have to consider how much space will be required. One more consideration is the amount of metals required to build photovoltaic cells. Mining for metals impacts the land. And what happens to solar panels that are old and need to be scrapped? Can the materials be recycled? What do you think? Is solar power worth the trade-off?
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POWER OF SUNLIGHT IDEAS FOR SUPPLIES 2 sheets of NaturePrint paper, available in art stores or online • dark-colored construction paper • toys, objects, cut-out paper shapes • plastic bag • sunscreen We know sunlight helps plants grow, evaporates water, causes sunburn, provides energy, and gives us light to see. We know that sunlight can help power our activities, from outer space to inside our own homes. But how powerful is the sunlight? This activity uses sun-sensitive paper to help you explore the power of the sun. You need a sunny day to do this activity!
1 Place a piece of dark construction paper and a piece of NaturePrint paper directly in the sun. Keep pieces of the same paper inside.
2 Place your toys, objects, and cut-out paper shapes on the construction paper and NaturePrint paper. Try creating a pattern on the paper.
3 What do you think will happen to the paper? To the objects? Think about the heat and the light coming from the sun. Write your predictions in your science journal.
ACTIVITY
4 After about 45 minutes, compare the construction paper, the NaturePrint paper, and the papers inside. How are they different?
WORDS TO KNOW 26
evaporate: when a liquid heats up and changes into a gas.
Plugged In Cities absorb a lot of solar energy because of all the black surfaces on roads and buildings, so they often are hotter than the surrounding countryside. This is why scientists call cities “heat islands.”
5  Dip the NaturePrint paper in water and then let it dry. What happens? How are the papers different? How are they similar? What caused the differences? What might happen on a cloudy day?
Try This: How does sunscreen protect us? Put half of the
ACTIVITY
NaturePrint paper in a plastic bag. Leave half exposed to the sun. Use sunscreen to cover the half of the paper exposed to the sun for 45 minutes. Remove it from the sun and place it in water, then wait for it to dry. What happened to the paper that was in the plastic bag? What happened to the parts covered in sunscreen? Record your observations in your science journal.
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SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY IDEAS FOR SUPPLIES Post-it Notes • 3 thermometers • white and black paper How are heat and light related? Begin by creating a table that will help you organize data. In this activity, you will write down the temperatures, your prediction, and results from different thermometers.
1 Label your thermometers 1, 2, and 3 using the Post-it Notes.
2 Which thermometer do you think will get the hottest—the one on black paper, the one under white paper, or the one that’s just lying in the sun? Write down your prediction in your science journal. Create a chart to record your observations.
Thermometer
Prediction
Actual Temperature
3 Place the three thermometers in the sun. Place the bulb of thermometer 1 on a piece of black paper. Place a piece of white paper over the bulb of thermometer 2. Leave thermometer 3 uncovered in the sun.
ACTIVITY
4 After 3 minutes, record the temperatures in your science journal. What color paper absorbed more of the sun’s energy?
WORDS TO KNOW prediction: what you think will happen.
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observation:
something you notice.
Think A bout It: How does the color of your clothing impact how hot you get? Should you wear darker or lighter clothing if it is hot? How might the color of the seats in your car impact the heat in your car?
GLOSSARY absorb: to soak up a
liquid or take in energy, heat, light, or sound. anemometer: an instrument used to measure the wind. The number of times it spins is calculated and converted into miles per hour. archaeologist: a scientist who studies ancient people through the objects they left behind. atmosphere: the mixture of gases surrounding a planet. BCE: put after a date, BCE stands for Before Common Era and counts down to zero. CE stands for Common Era and counts up from zero. The year this book is published is 2016 CE.
biodegradable:
something that can break down or decay and become absorbed into the environment. biodiesel: a fuel from vegetable sources. bioenergy: energy contained in living or recently living things. biogas: a gas made from something that was once alive. biomass: plant materials and animal waste used as fuel.
bioproducts: fuels,
chemicals, and raw materials made from renewable resources. byproduct: an extra and sometimes unexpected or unintended result of an action or process. carbon: an element found in all living things. carbon dioxide: a gas formed by the burning of fossil fuels, the rotting of plants and animals, and the breathing out of animals or humans.
carbon footprint:
the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service, or by a person, family, or community in a year. cell: the functional unit of an organism. climate: the average weather patterns in an area during a long period of time. climate change: a change in the longterm average weather patterns of a place. concentrate: to bring or direct toward the center. condense: when a gas cools down and changes into a liquid.
conserve: to use less
of something, such as energy or water. consumption: the use of a resource. convert: to change a material into something else. core: the innermost layer of the earth, made of solid and liquid iron. crust: the outer, thin layer of the earth. dam: a wall built across a waterway to stop water flow. data: facts about something that can be analyzed. dense: how tightly the matter in an object is packed. efficient: wasting as little as possible. emissions: something that is sent or given out, such as smoke, gas, heat, or light. engineer: a person who uses science, math, and creativity to design and build things. engineering: the use of science and math in the design and construction of things.
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GLOSSARY equator: an imaginary
line around the earth that is equally between both poles. estimate: to form a general idea about the value, size, or cost of something. ethanol: a colorless, flammable liquid. evaporate: when a liquid heats up and changes into a gas. evaporation: when the surface of a liquid changes from a liquid to a gas. fermentation: a chemical reaction that breaks down food and other organic matter. The process converts sugar to acids. flow: the amount of water that moves through a hydropower plant. forest residue: what’s left on the forest floor after timber has been harvested. fossil: the remains or traces of ancient plants or animals. fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. These energy sources come from the fossils of plants and tiny animals that lived millions of years ago. 114
generate: to create
something or to produce energy. geologist: a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that make up the earth and the forces that shape it. geothermal: heat energy from beneath the earth’s surface.
geothermal heat pump: a system used to
get energy from below the surface of the earth. geyser: a hot spring under pressure that shoots boiling water or steam into the air. global warming: an increase in the earth’s average temperatures, enough to change the climate. glucose: a type of sugar commonly found in plants.
gravitational effect:
the force of attraction between two masses. green: something made from a renewable resource that does not harm the environment.
greenhouse gas:
a gas such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, or methane that traps heat and contributes to warming temperatures.
herbaceous: having
characteristics of a plant with a non-woody stem. hot spring: a natural pool of water that is heated by hot or molten rock. Hot springs are found in areas with active volcanoes. hybrid: a power plant, vehicle, or electronic circuit that has two different types of components performing the same function.
hydroelectric power plant: a power plant that
uses moving water to power a turbine generator to produce electricity. hydrokinetic: the motion of fluids. hydropower: energy produced by the movement of water. Industrial Revolution: a period of time beginning in the late 1700s when people started using machines to make things in large factories. inexhaustible: impossible to use up completely. innovation: a new invention or way of doing something. irrigation: to provide water for crops through ditches, pipes, or other means.
GLOSSARY kinetic: the movement
of physical objects. lithosphere: the outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
magnetosphere:
a magnetic region surrounding an object in space. mantle: the middle layer of the earth between the crust and the core.
manufacturing:
making large quantities of products in factories using machines. matter: what an object is made of. Anything that has weight and takes up space.
mechanical energy:
energy that uses physical parts you can see, such as the parts of a machine. It is related to motion and height. methane: a colorless, odorless greenhouse gas. mineral: a naturally occurring solid found in rocks and in the ground. Rocks are made of minerals. Gold and diamonds are precious minerals.
observation:
something you notice. organic matter: decaying plants and animals.
organism: any
living thing.
passive solar: use of the sun’s energy to heat buildings or water. photon: a particle of light. photosynthesis: the process of converting the sun’s energy into food in plants. photovoltaics:
technology used to convert sunlight into electricity. piston: a sliding piece that moves up and down or back and forth. prediction: what you think will happen. pump storage: a system for moving water using extra electricity, storing the water, then allowing the water to flow through turbines to create electricity when it’s needed. rays: lines of light that come from a bright object. reflect: to redirect something that hits a surface, such as heat, light, or sound.
renewable energy:
a form of energy that doesn’t get used up, including the energy of the sun and the wind.
researcher: a person
who systematically studies something. reservoir: a natural or manmade body of water stored for future use. retrofit: to change a part or add new parts that were not originally available. revolution: a humanled dramatic change in something.
runaway greenhouse effect: when a planet’s
atmosphere gets hotter and hotter, never cooling down, because it has too much heattrapping greenhouse gases in its atmosphere.
scientific method:
the way scientists ask questions and do experiments to try to prove their ideas. seismic waves: a form of energy released by earthquakes. smart grid: a computerbased remote control and automated system for electricity delivery. It includes two-way interaction between the generation facilities, utilities, and consumers. solar cell: a photovoltaic cell that converts sunlight directly into electricity. 115
GLOSSARY solar panel: a device
used to capture sunlight and convert it to usable energy. solar power: energy from the sun converted to electricity.
solar thermal:
technology used to heat water from the sun and convert it into electricity. species: a group of living things that are closely related and produce young. STEM: stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. survey: to examine or measure something.
sustainable: a process
or resource that can be used without being completely used up or destroyed. technology: tools, methods, and systems used to solve a problem or do work. thermal: energy in the form of heat. topsoil: the top layer of soil. trade-off: a compromise. turbine: a device that uses pressure on blades by water, air, or steam to spin generators and create electricity.
Metric Conversions Use this chart to find the metric equivalents to the English measurements in this book. If you need to know a half measurement, divide by two. If you need to know twice the measurement, multiply by two. How do you find a quarter measurement? How do you find three times the measurement?
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urea: a waste product
made by animal cells. water cycle: the movement of water from land to bodies of water, into the atmosphere, and back to the earth. water vapor: the gaseous form of water in the air. wind farm: groups or clusters of wind turbines that produce large amounts of electricity together. windmill: a machine rotated by wind to pump water or do work.
English
Metric
1 inch
2.5 centimeters
1 foot
30.5 centimeters
1 yard
0.9 meter
1 mile
1.6 kilometers
1 pound
0.5 kilogram
1 teaspoon
5 milliliters
1 tablespoon
15 milliliters
1 cup
237 milliliters
CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY • EDUCATION RESOURCE
focus on science
How do we heat our homes, light our rooms, and power our cars? With energy! Individuals, businesses, and governments are looking for ways to expand our sources of renewable energy, including solar, wind, biofuel, hydro, and geothermal. In Renewable Energy: Discover the Fuel of the Future, readers learn about these renewable energy sources and weigh the pros and cons of different energy sources to make their own informed opinions about which resources are the best choices for different uses. • Discussions of pros and cons
• Links to online primary sources
• Hands-on activities
• Accessible science
Ages: 9–12
“ Renewable energy is real. It’s here. And it’s working.
This how-to guide makes it fun and exiting! It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to become truly energy smart!” —Brian F. Keane, President, SmartPower; Author of Green Is Good: Save Money, Make Money, and Help Your Community Profit from Clean Energy
“ This book takes students down a thoughtful and
clever path to understand the mechanics of where energy comes from and the trade-offs associated with any energy source.” —Minda Berbeco, PhD, Programs and Policy Director, National Center for Science Education
“ Energy is a hidden but important part of all of our
lives, and can be a very daunting topic to study. This book shows how learning about energy and the fight against climate change can be interesting, inspiring, and educational instead. An aspiring scientist or engineer will enjoy the hands-on activities and any student can use the text to explore the role of renewable energy in its various forms in our future.” —Austin Brown, Project Leader, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Senior Policy Analyst, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Adjunct Instructor, Johns Hopkins University
Guided Reading Level: T
“ This is a must-have for teachers and students!
The book, through its relevant, current, and age-appropriate information and activities, gives students the tools needed to make responsible, educated choices that will impact their lives and affect the future of our planet.” —Carol Homrighouse, Science Teacher
“ The use of inquiry and the scientific journal
as tools for documenting investigations, observations, and reflection is excellent practice for all kinds of research. Each investigation takes kids to the core of the energy source to help them figure out where it comes from, how it is captured, and how it can best be used.” —Connie Hamner Williams, National Board-certified Teacher; Librarian