Energy Sources

Use the links provided to find the answers to the following questions.  Answer the questions on your sheet.  Have fun!

1.  The energy we use everyday comes from both Renewable and Non-renewable resources. List the five renewable sources of energy and the four non-renewable sources of energy.

Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources

2.  What are Renewable Resources?

3.  What are Non-Renewable Resources?

Types of Energy

4.  Energy from Wind-Wind is air in motion. Wind is caused by the heating of the earth’s surface by the sun.

      a.  Why is wind energy considered renewable?

      b.  What machine is used to create energy

from the wind?

      c.  (Wind and the Environment) What are the

advantages of wind energy?

      d.  What are the disadvantages of wind energy?

5.  Energy from the Sun—energy from the sun is called solar energy. It is created by the sun’s radiation that reaches the earth.

      a.  What are the two problems with solar energy?    

b. What are the four main uses

of solar energy?

      c.  Why is solar energy considered renewable?

6.  Energy from Water—energy from water is called hydropower. Hydropower is created by moving water. The water cycle is very important in understanding hydropower.

       a.  What is the name of the nation's largest

hydroelectric facility (Where Hydropower is Generated)?

b. (Hydropower and the Environment)  What are the advantages

of hydropower?

       c.  What are the disadvantages of hydropower?

7. Geothermal Energy—Geothermal energy comes

from heat that is collected from deep under the earth’s crust.

       a.  How is geothermal energy collected?  Explain.

8.  Biomass -Biomass is often burned to create energy.

       a.  What is biomass?

       b.  What are four examples of biomass?

       c.  (Biomass and the Environment)  What are the

disadvantages of using biomass as energy?

9.  Nuclear Energy—Nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. Atoms are tiny particles that make up every object in the universe. There is enormous energy in the bonds that hold atoms together.
Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity. But first the energy must be released. It can be released from atoms in two ways: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.

       a.  What is the main element used in

creating Nuclear Energy?

b. (Nuclear Power Plants Generate Electricity)  How do

power plants create nuclear power?

c. (Nuclear Power and the Environment)  What are the

concerns with Nuclear Energy?

 10.  Energy from fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas)—Coal, oil, and natural gas are all considered fossil fuels because they formed from the buried remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.       

        a.  How was oil formed?

b. (Crude Oil is Made into Different Fuels)  List five

products that come from oil?

        c.  How is coal formed?

        d.  (How We Get Coal)  Where do we get coal?

e. (Coal and the Environment) What are the

disadvantages of using coal for energy?

        f.  What is natural gas?

        g.  (What Natural Gas is Used For) What is natural gas

used for?  List five.

h. Thinking Question: Why is it so important to continue to look for new energy sources?

***If you finish and you have checked your work, try the word games on the energy games page.