This is the PowerPoint presentation I used to teach elementary and junior high students about renewable energy. I recommend at least 90 minutes for the presentation, in order to get the most participation and discussion out of the classroom.

1. ENERGY RESOURCES
Frances Bueno
November 2016
HON 102 Taking Action

2. What is energy?
• Energy is the ability to do work, make
things, and change things
• You can “see” energy by looking for
motion, heat, and light
• Energy is everywhere

3. Why do we need energy?
• Energy is what keeps the world going!
• We use energy to turn on lights, drive cars, make things
• What uses energy?

4. Where do we get energy?
• Fossil fuels: 81% of the total energy in the United States
• Renewable energy sources

5. What are fossil fuels?
• Natural gas, coal, and oil
• Take hundreds of thousands of years to
form
• How to get fossil fuels:
1. Find where they are using sound waves
2. Drill to reach oil and natural gas
3. Put a pipe in to pump the gas to the
surface

6. Disadvantages of fossil fuels
• Do not replenish as quickly as we use them
• Getting fossil fuels will become more dangerous
and more expensive
• Pollution – nitrogen oxides lead to smog and acid rain

7. Pollution
• Smog: fog or haze combined with smoke and other
pollutants
• Acid rain: acidification of not just rain, but snow, fog,
hail, or even dust
• 1. Write and share: what effects might pollution have
on our world?

8. Advantages of fossil fuels
• Relatively cheap and plentiful
• Our technology is made to use fossil fuels
• Currently, no other energy source can replace fossil fuels

9. How can we make fossil fuels better?
• Advanced technology to make extraction safer and cheaper
• Clean up fossil fuels

10. The United States and
energy
• Americans are 5% of the global population, but use
20% of the world’s total energy use
• One American uses as much energy as:
• 2 people in Japan
• 31 people in India
• 370 people in Ethiopia
• 2. Discuss and share: Why do you think we use so
much more energy?

11. ENERGY BEANS
• 80 pinto beans for non-renewable energy, 20 black beans for renewable energy
• Let’s see what happens when we use the same amount of energy every year:
•Randomly pick 23 beans from the original bag and place them in the second bag - don’t
pick and choose!
•If you happen to pick a black bean, you can put that back in the original bag.
•We’ll do a couple rounds and see what happens to our available energy.
•3. Write and share: What do you think would happen if we don’t use renewable
energy? How would energy use change if the population increases each year?

12. Renewable energy
• Natural resources that continuously
replenish
• This energy cannot be completed used
• Examples of renewable energy:
• Wind, solar, hydropower

13. Wind energy
• Wind turns blades connected to a turbine

14. Solar energy
• Absorbs and stores the sun’s energy
• What is something in the natural world that uses
solar energy?

15. Hydropower
• Use flowing water that is usually directed
through a dam or other structure

16. The future of
renewable energy
• Mashups of renewable energy
sources
• Beaming down solar energy from
space
• Solar panels on our roads

17. Advantages of
renewable energy
• We will never run out of it
• Facilities generally require less and cheaper
maintenance
• Produces little or no waste and pollutants
• Why should we use renewable energy
sources?

18. Why don’t we use renewable energy
more?
• Difficult to generate the same amount of electricity generated by fossil fuels
• Reliability of supply
• 4. Discuss and share: Why might depending on the sun, wind, or water not be
such a good idea?

19. Why don’t we use renewable energy
more?
• Jobs - losing old jobs, but creating new ones
• Remember that there are two ways to improve how we create energy!
• 5. Discuss and share: How can we fix the disadvantages of renewable energy?

20. What is America doing
about energy?
• Investing more in renewable energy: $44 billion in
2015
• $560 million in Holt County, Nebraska
• Wind energy will power 120,000 homes
• $744 million in Primm, Nevada
• Solar energy will power 80,000 homes

21. What can we do about
energy?
• 6. Discuss and share: Why should we care about how
much energy we use?
• 17% of natural gas consumption belonged to
residential use
• 3% of natural gas consumption went to transportation
• Energy is used to make things, too!

22. ENERGY BUSTERS
• How many ways are there to save energy? Discuss and share!
• Turn off lights
• Wear sweaters around the house instead of turning up the heater
• Carpool with friends
• Buy food at a local farmers’ market