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What makes cars go? Fossil fuels! What lights up gas grills and stoves? Fossil fuels! What’s non-renewable and really bad for the environment? You know…

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From generating electricity to growing crops, dams have proven to be one of the most useful innovations in human history. Find out how these simple structures accomplish so much.

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BrainPOP - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

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Kids learn about wind energy and how this renewable power can help the environment. Teach students about turbines that generate electricity from wind.

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Wind Energy Facts

Enjoy a range of interesting wind energy facts which help explain how we use wind power to create electricity and other useful forms of energy.

Learn how long humans have been using windmills, how big wind turbines can be, how much of the world's electricity is generated from wind power and much more.

Wind power involves turning energy from the wind into other forms of useful energy.

Wind power can be harnessed in a number of different ways. For example, windmills create mechanical energy, sails move boats and wind turbines generate electricity.

Windmills have been around for a long time, they were used in Persia (Iran) as far back as 200 B.C.

Wind energy is clean and renewable.

Large groups of wind turbines are called wind farms.

Around 80 different countries use wind power to generate electricity commercially (as of 2009).

In 1997 wind power generated only 0.1% of the world's electricity, this increased to 1.5% in 2008 and 2.5% in 2010.

In some countries such as Denmark and Portugal, wind power contributes around 20% of the total electricity production.

The large blades of wind turbines can interfere with some radar systems used by weather stations or air traffic controls, at times being mistaken for planes or various weather patterns.

Smaller turbines are sometimes used to charge batteries or as backup power in caravans and sailing ships.

Modern wind turbines usually have 3 blades which can reach speeds at the tip of over 320 kph (200 mph).

The tips of large wind turbines can reach heights up to 200 m (650ft).

Wind turbines can even be installed offshore on floating structures, sending the electricity generated back to land with the help of undersea cables.

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Wind Energy Facts - Using Wind Power to Create Electricity

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Wind Energy Facts Enjoy a range of interesting wind energy facts which help explain how we use wind power to create electricity and other useful forms of energy. Learn how long humans have been using windmills, how big wind turbines can be, how much of the world's electricity is generated from wind power and much more.

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SEE OTHER LESSONS AVAILABLE ON ESCHOOLTODAY DROUGHTS | EARTHQUAKES | FLOODING | HURRICANES | LANDSLIDES | TORNADOES | VOLCANOES | WILD FIRES | WINDS BULLYING | CHILD ABUSE | DISABILITY | DISCRIMINATION | FOOD WASTE | HUNGER & MALNUTRITION | MIGRATION | POVERTY ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION | CLOUDS | CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS | MATTER | ELECTRICITY | ENERGY | FORCES | GENETICS NEEDS OF LIVING THINGS | NUTRIENTS IN FOOD | PHOTOSYNTHESIS | ROCK CYCLE | SIMPLE MACHINES | SOILS | SENSES | WATER CYCLE

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Kids learn about solar energy and how this renewable power can help the environment. Teach students about solar cells and using the sun for heat.

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Solar Power Facts

Check out our interesting solar power facts for kids.How do we use solar energy from the sun? What are solar panels? Where is the world's largest solar power plant?

Find out the answers to these questions and more with our range of solar power facts and general information.

Solar energy is obtained from sunlight.

Solar energy has been used by humans for a long time for uses such as heating, cooking food, removing salt from seawater and drying clothes.

These days it is also used to create electricity. As technology has improved, solar power costs have decreased and it has become a more viable alternative, competing with energy sources such as coal and oil.

While solar power is becoming more efficient, it only provides a small fraction of the world's energy supply.

Solar cells convert light energy into electricity.

Solar cells are also called photovoltaic cells.

Solar cells can be used to power portable devices such as calculators.

Large numbers of solar cells are put together to create solar panels.

The largest solar power plant in the world is found in the Mojave Desert, USA.

Spacecraft and space stations such as the International Space Station (ISS) often use solar panels to generate power.

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Solar Power Facts for Kids - Energy from the Sun

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Solar Power Facts Check out our interesting solar power facts for kids.How do we use solar energy from the sun? What are solar panels? Where is the world's largest solar power plant? Find out the answers to these questions and more with our range of solar power facts and general information.

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Light up a whole city!

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Fossil Fuel Facts

Fossil fuels are essentially the remains of plants of animals. They provide us with a source of nonrenewable energy. Fossil fuels can either come in the form of an oil, coal, or natural gas. They are the result of the decomposition of dead plant and animal matter buried deep in the Earth's crust. These fossil fuels are then pumped from underground and used in a variety of ways.

It takes millions of years for fossil fuels to develop.

The fossil fuels we use today began forming during the Carboniferous Period which was before dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

Oil, also called petroleum, is pumped from underground and can be turned into products such as gasoline and electricity.

If your house uses natural gas for cooking and heating, this is a form of a fossil fuel that lies underground usually above oil.

Coal is another fossil fuel used to generate electricity and is found closer to the Earth's surface.

Although fossil fuels are mainly used to make electricity, they are also used to power machines such as cars and planes.

Fossil fuels are nonrenewable which means they cannot be made by humans.

Fossil fuels in their natural form must first be burned in order to be used as electricity.

When fossil fuels are burned, they release unhealthy toxins into the air we breathe.

Around 90% of our energy comes from fossil fuels.

The energy stored in fossil fuels comes from the sun.

The main component of natural gas is methane which is highly flammable.

Natural gas has no smell so a chemical called mercaptan is added so that it can easily be detected.

Natural gas is pumped to houses by way of underground pipelines that connect directly to the natural gas source.

Although renewable sources of energy are better than nonrenewable sources of energy, we continue to use nonrenewable sources because they are easier to obtain.

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Fossil fuels are essentially the remains of plants of animals. They provide us with a source of nonrenewable energy. Fossil fuels can either come in the form of an oil, coal, or natural gas. They are the result of the decomposition of dead plant and animal matter buried deep in the Earth's crust.

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Nuclear energy refers to the process of using nuclear processes in order to generate heat or electricity. Most of these nuclear processes are performed using the rare earth elements. During the production of nuclear energy the nuclei of atoms either join together (fusion) or break apart (fission).

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Nuclear Energy: Facts (Science Trek: Idaho Public Television)

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Nuclear energy is produced from nonrenewable resources, but it is not a fossil fuel. Unlike most forms of energy that have been known to humans for a long time, it was discovered much more recently. It may have a big role to play in the future, but it can also be dangerous.

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Fossil Fuel definition

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Green Energy: Glossary (Science Trek: Idaho Public Television)

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Energy source formed from the fossilized remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago by the remains of prehistoric plants and animals. After these plants and animals died, they decomposed and became buried under layers of earth.

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Hydroelectric Energy definition

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Green Energy: Glossary (Science Trek: Idaho Public Television)

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Energy source formed from the fossilized remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago by the remains of prehistoric plants and animals. After these plants and animals died, they decomposed and became buried under layers of earth.

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People have used moving water to help them in their work throughout history, and modern people make great use of moving water to produce electricity. No doubt, Jack the Caveman stuck some sturdy leaves on a pole and put it in a moving stream. The water would spin the pole that crushed grain to make their delicious, low-fat prehistoric bran muffins. For many centuries, water power was used to drive mills to grind grain into flour. People have used moving water to help them in their work throughout history, and modern people make great use of moving water to produce electricity.

Hydroelectric power for the Nation

Although most energy in the United States is produced by fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants, hydroelectricity is still important to the Nation. Nowadays, huge power generators are placed inside dams. Water flowing through the dams spin turbine blades (made from metal instead of leaves) which are connected to generators. Power is produced and is sent to homes and businesses.
World Distribution of Hydropower

Hydropower is the most important and widely-used renewable source of energy.

Hydropower represents about 17% (International Energy Agency) of total electricity production.

China is the largest producer of hydroelectricity, followed by Canada, Brazil, and the United States (Source: Energy Information Administration).

Approximately two-thirds of the economically feasible potential remains to be developed. Untapped hydro resources are still abundant in Latin America, Central Africa, India and China.

Producing electricity using hydroelectric power has some advantages over other power-producing methods. Let's do a quick comparison:
Advantages to Hydroelectric Power

Fuel is not burned so there is minimal pollution

Water to run the power plant is provided free by nature

Hydropower plays a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Relatively low operations and maintenance costs

The technology is reliable and proven over time

It's renewable - rainfall renews the water in the reservoir, so the fuel is almost always there

Read an expanded list of advantages of hydroelectric power from the Top World Conference on Sustainable Development conference, Johannesburg, South Africa (2002) Disadvantages to power plants that use coal, oil, and gas fuel

They use up valuable and limited natural resources

They can produce a lot of pollution

Companies must dig up the Earth or drill wells to get the coal, oil, and gas

For nuclear power plants there are waste-disposal problems

Hydroelectric power is not perfect, though, and does have some disadvantages

High investment costs

Hydrology dependent (precipitation)

In some cases, inundation of land and wildlife habitat

In some cases, loss or modification of fish habitat

Fish entrainment or passage restriction

In some cases, changes in reservoir and stream water quality

In some cases, displacement of local populations

Hydropower and the Environment
Hydropower is nonpolluting, but does have environmental impacts
Hydropower does not pollute the water or the air. However, hydropower facilities can have large environmental impacts by changing the environment and affecting land use, homes, and natural habitats in the dam area.

Most hydroelectric power plants have a dam and a reservoir. These structures may obstruct fish migration and affect their populations. Operating a hydroelectric power plant may also change the water temperature and the river's flow. These changes may harm native plants and animals in the river and on land. Reservoirs may cover people's homes, important natural areas, agricultural land, and archaeological sites. So, building dams can require relocating people. Methane, a strong greenhouse gas, may also form in some reservoirs and be emitted to the atmosphere. (Source: EPA Energy Kids)

Reservoir construction is "drying up" in the United States

Gosh, hydroelectric power sounds great - so why don't we use it to produce all our power? Mainly because you need lots of water and a lot of land where you can build a dam and reservoir, which all takes a LOT of money, time, and construction. In fact, most of the good spots to locate hydro plants have already been taken. In the early part of the century hydroelectric plants supplied a bit less than one-half of the nation's power, but the number is down to about 10 percent today. The trend for the future will probably be to build small-scale hydro plants that can generate electricity for a single community.

As this chart shows, the construction of surface reservoirs has slowed considerably in recent years. In the middle of the 20th Century, when urbanization was occurring at a rapid rate, many reservoirs were constructed to serve peoples' rising demand for water and power. Since about 1980, the rate of reservoir construction has slowed considerably.

Typical hydroelectric powerplant

Hydroelectric energy is produced by the force of falling water. The capacity to produce this energy is dependent on both the available flow and the height from which it falls. Building up behind a high dam, water accumulates potential energy. This is transformed into mechanical energy when the water rushes down the sluice and strikes the rotary blades of turbine. The turbine's rotation spins electromagnets which generate current in stationary coils of wire. Finally, the current is put through a transformer where the voltage is increased for long distance transmission over power lines. (Source: Environment Canada)

Hydroelectric-power production in the United States and the world

This chart shows hydroelectric power generation in 2012 for the leading hydroelectric-generating countries in the world. China has developed large hydroelectric facilities in the last decade and now lead the world in hydroelectricity usage. But, from north to south and from east to west, countries all over the world make use of hydroelectricity-the main ingredients are a large river and a drop in elevation (along with money, of course).

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People have used moving water to help them in their work throughout history, and modern people make great use of moving water to produce electricity. No doubt, Jack the Caveman stuck some sturdy leaves on a pole and put it in a moving stream.

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Kids learn about hydropower energy and how this renewable power can help the environment. Teach students about biodiesel, ethanol, and methane gas.

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Kinetic Energy

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Energy and Matter: StudyJams! Science | Scholastic.com

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Energy is the ability to cause change in matter. This StudyJams! will teach students about the ways in which matter and energy are related.

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This movie generates more than a volt of knowledge about electricity! It's not just flipping a switch: Did you know magnets play an important role?

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Tim and Moby give you a working knowledge of electrical circuits, including the power source, terminals, and volts. It's all pretty shocking!

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Energy

Hi there, I'm Polly and I'll be explaining how geology helps us to find the energy we use to power our homes and fuel our cars. It's electrifying!

Did you know that coal, oil and gas are all fossil fuels? They are used to heat our homes, provide power for industry and fuel our cars. Fossil fuels are made from trees, plants and tiny sea creatures which were buried millions of years ago. They were squashed and heated so much that they changed into the fossil fuels we find today. These fuels are then burned and used to produce steam which drives generators to make electricity.

This map shows places around the world where different types of fossil fuels can be found:

More information

Now that countries around the world are trying to find ways to reduce their carbon emissions (including those released from the burning of fossil fuels) - geological maps can help again! In the same way that oil and gas can be trapped underground, carbon dioxide can also be trapped. If we can store the carbon dioxide we produce, we can help reduce the effects of global warming.
Geothermal Energy
Increasingly, we are looking to alternative forms of energy as we try to reduce the impact we have on our environment. One option is to harness the energy that is contained within the earth in the form of heat. This can be used to directly heat homes and businesses by pumping water down beneath a house and bringing it back once it has been heated up. It can also be used indirectly to generate electricity - Geothermal Energy Plants currently produce 0.3% of the world's electricity.

In some places, the hot water comes straight out of the ground by itself - these geothermal springs are used for bathing all over the world. The Romans used geothermal springs to bathe in and to heat buildings!

Get involved

Do you know where your electricity comes from? Find out and let us know using our online form!

Let's see what else we can find out about energy. Try searching the internet for:

Try these links for more information:

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Hi there, I'm Polly and I'll be explaining how geology helps us to find the energy we use to power our homes and fuel our cars. It's electrifying! Did you know that coal, oil and gas are all fossil fuels? They are used to heat our homes, provide power for industry and fuel our cars.