AG IN THE CLASSROOM - HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION UNDERSTAND THEIR CONNECTION TO AGRICULTURE

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "AG IN THE CLASSROOM - HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION UNDERSTAND THEIR CONNECTION TO AGRICULTURE"

Transcription

1 ENERGY READER AG IN THE CLASSROOM - HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION UNDERSTAND THEIR CONNECTION TO AGRICULTURE Electricity is a form of energy. Energy is the ability to do work. Taking your dog for a walk, eating, and doing homework are ways you use energy. There are so many different ways we use electrical energy everyday: x Playing video games x Watching television x Turning lights on in your house Electrical energy is the movement of charged particles, negative (-) and positive (+). It can come from batteries or power plants and it can also be found in nature. Electric power companies, like electric cooperatives, make the electricity and transport it to your home using transmission and distribution power lines. What is Electricity? Once the electricity is created, it moves along cables to a substation transformer that sends it to your home through distribution lines. Transformers convert the high voltage energy in the lines to a lower voltage energy suitable for use inside homes and buildings. We use this electricity in our homes for lights, cooking, charging your ipod and watching TV. We also use this electricity to run the air conditioning and water heater. COLORADO FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE / 1

2 How is electricity created? Have you ever wondered where electricity comes from? You might be surprised to learn that most electricity comes from magnets! In 1831, Michael Faraday discovered that when a magnet is moved inside a coil of wire, electrical current flows in the wire. This discovery is known as Faraday's Law. Today, we use Faraday's Law to create electricity through generators. A generator uses powerful magnets and many coils of wire to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Most electricity we use is created by generators. Scientists are discovering new methods to make electricity. One way is to make solar energy into electrical energy. Measuring Electricity Electricity is measured in units of power called "watts." One watt is a small amount of power. In fact, it won't even light an average light bulb. A kilowatt represents 1,000 watts. A kilowatt-hour (kwh) is equal to the energy of 1,000 watts working for one hour. Kilowatts and kilowatt-hours are useful for measuring amounts of energy used by large appliances in your house, like your washer and dryer. One megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts, or 1,000,000 watts. One megawatt is enough electricity for about 300 average households in the United States. The Jones family of four uses about 27,800 kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity each year. One ton of coal can produce 2,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity. One ton is equal to 2,000 pounds. Here are some examples of how many kilowatt-hours it takes to run each of these appliances each year in their household. Clothes dryer ,020 kwh Computer with monitor and printer kwh Dishwasher kwh Electric furnace ,250 kwh Microwave kwh Oven/stove kwh Refrigerator/freezer ,800 kwh Television kwh Wii kwh Hair dryer kwh Washer kwh Electric water heater ,806 kwh How many tons of coal are used each year by the Jones family to produce the electricity needed to run their household of four people? How many pounds of coal does this equal? How many pounds of coal does each person use? How many pounds of coal does each person use per day? (There are 365 days in a year.) Which appliance takes the most electricity to run each year? What percentage of the total kilowatt-hours does the electric furnace take to run? The Colorado Reader publication and Ag in the Classroom are projects of the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture. Educational projects are produced in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, other state and federal agencies, Colorado commodity groups, Colorado agricultural associations, state universities and colleges and interested individuals. Colorado Readers are provided free to educators requesting them. For more information contact: Bette Blinde, Director, Colorado Foundation for Agriculture, P.O.Box 10, Livermore, CO or phone (970) Financial support for this reader has been provided by:

3 Energy Sources Electricity travels at the speed of light Electricity is known as a secondary energy - more than source. It is generated by using energy from 186,000 miles different types of fuel. When we use per second! electricity in our home, the electrical power was probably produced by burning coal. Therefore, coal is an energy source. Coal is the most common fuel for generating electricity in the United States. In 2009, nearly half of the electricity produced in America used coal as its fuel source. We have many coal mines in Colorado, this coal is used to power houses across the state. Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The fuel in coal comes from the energy stored by plants that lived millions of years ago, when the earth was partly covered with swampy forests. Layers of dead plants at the bottom of swamps were covered by layers of water and dirt. This trapped the energy of the dead plants. The heat and pressure from the top layers helped the plant remains turn into coal. Over 90 percent of the coal used in the United States is used to generate electricity. Using a dictionary, look up the word combustible and write the definition for how it is used in this story. From the story, list three energy sources used to produce electricity. Electricity can also be created by using other fuel sources, like natural gas. Nuclear power is another way to create electricity. Nuclear plants use the heat given off when the atoms of uranium are split. Uranium is mined from the ground, just like coal. The uranium is formed into pellets that are put in tubes inside a nuclear reactor. The heat given off when the atoms are split is used as fuel to create electricity. What is a volt? Voltage is the measure of pressure applied to electrons to make them move between two points. Voltage is measured in volts. The steps used in generating electricity from coal: 1. The coal is pulverized or crushed. 2. Coal is burned, which heats a boiler. Water inside the boiler turns to steam, creating pressure. 3. The pressure from the steam turns a turbine. A turbine is an engine that spins around, causing the heat energy of the burning coal to become mechanical energy. 4. A generator creates electricity from the spinning turbine. 5. The electricity is transmitted to our homes, schools, businesses and factories over powerlines. 6. The steam is cooled and changes back to water, and the cycle begins all over again. COLORADO FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE / 3

4 Renewables Electricity can also be generated by using the power of renewable resources such as water, wind and solar power. You may have seen large wind turbines or solar panels while traveling in Colorado. Some people have smaller wind and solar systems to power their homes, farms and businesses. Renewable resources are beneficial because they provide us with a never-ending source of electricity. They also are earth-friendly since they don't use up our natural resources. But, some renewables are more expensive to produce than electricity made from coal and natural gas. Another challenge is that renewable resources are often located in remote areas and it is expensive to build power lines to move the electricity to the towns and cities where people can use it. The use of renewable sources are not always available - cloudy days reduce solar power; calm days reduce wind power; and droughts reduce the water available from hydropower. The use of renewable fuels is expected to continue to grow, although we will still rely on coal and natural gas to meet most of our energy needs. The five renewable sources used most often are: wind, biomass (material from plants or animals), hydropower (water), solar (sun) and geothermal (heat from the earth). Powering Rural America In rural areas of Colorado, electricity is usually delivered by rural electric cooperatives. Electric cooperatives were first formed in the United States in the 1930s. Farmers, ranchers and other people living in rural areas needed electricity. Electric companies thought it was too expensive to provide electricity to these areas. People living on farms and ranches got together and created their own power companies called rural electric cooperatives, or REAs. A cooperative is a special kind of business. The people who use the business - the customers - also own it. Cooperatives are often called "consumerowned" businesses. (Consumer is another word for customer.) Cooperatives provide many kinds of products and services: buying food, selling crops and providing electricity. Rural electric cooperatives work hard to provide families with reliable and affordable electricity to power homes, farms and businesses. Think about how different your life would be without electricity. Colorado's electric power network energizes our lives every minute of every day.

5 Safety First - Electricity can be deadly! One of the most important things to know about electricity is that it can be dangerous. It doesn't take much power to hurt someone -- less than one-fifth of the electricity it takes to light a bulb can kill an adult. How do people get shocked? Electricity flows through water almost as easily as it travels through the wire that brings electricity to your house. Your body is 70 percent water. So, if you touch electricity, it will flow through you, and you can be badly hurt. Electricity is lazy! It tries to find a conductor, such as metal, wet wood or water. Never touch an energized bare wire or faulty appliance, the electricity will instantly pass through you to the ground, causing a harmful or fatal shock. 1 Follow the five rules below to keep yourself and others safe around electricity. Five Rules for Electrical Safety: x Always ask a grownup for help when you need to use something that uses electricity. x Don't yank or pull electric cords from a wall. Pulling cords can damage the outlet, appliance or plug. x Never overload outlets with too many plugs. x Keep electrical appliances, like blow dryers, away from water. Water and electricity don't mix. Most electrical accidents in the home happen when people use electricity near water. x Look up for power lines. Never touch a power line, especially if it has fallen down. ACTIVITY: Study the three illustrations on the left. On the lines below, write two sentences about each picture describing the danger illustrated. 1. A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts - and it lasts less than one second! COLORADO FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE / 5

6 Don't be an energy hog You've probably heard the grownups in your house say, "Turn off the lights!" or "Close the refrigerator door!" Have you ever wondered why? Every year, we use more energy than we did the year before. In fact, the amount of energy Americans use has doubled every 20 years. All of that energy adds up and costs money. Much of it is wasted by not using it wisely. How can you use energy wisely? It might seem like kids can't do much to help save energy. But, every time you turn off a light or close the refrigerator door, you're saving electricity. You can also help by being an energy efficiency ambassador. You can do this by doing your part to reduce energy use and remind grownups to do things that save energy, like turning down the heat in the winter, turning off lights and turning off their computers. Your turn. Study the energy use in your classroom and in your school. Write a list of ways your school might be able to save energy. One lightning bolt has enough electricity to power 200,000 homes. The first power generation plant - owned by Thomas Edison - opened in New York City in You may have heard of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC). The difference between the two is in the way the electrons flow. In DC electrons move in a single direction while in AC they change directions, switching between backwards and forwards. The electricity use in your home is AC while DC comes from sources like batteries. Back in the 1880s there was even a War of Currents between Thomas Edison, who helped invent DC, and Nikola Tesla, who helped invent AC. Both wanted their system to be used. AC eventually won out.

7 Left is the electricity generation plant at Craig, Colorado. Below are examples of some of the jobs done by workers in the field of electricity generation. Careers in Electricity When you think of working with electricity, the first thing that comes to mind is a job at a power plant. Those working in a power plant are very important. There are also many other people who work outside of the power plant to get electricity to your home. A career in the electric utility field can involve installing and repairing power lines, writing a news release for the local paper or planning how much electricity will be needed to meet the needs of the customers. Some of these jobs are: - accountants - administrative assistants - advertisers - cashiers - computer specialists - dispatchers - drafters - economic developers - engineers - environmental specialists - graphic artists - line and substation maintenance - locators - marketers - planners/forecasters - power plant operators ACTIVITY: Study the pictures above and on a sheet of paper write questions you might ask these people about their jobs. COLORADO FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE / 7

8 SUPER ENERGY SAVER CHECKLIST 1 Energy Crossword Talk to your family and check the box in front of those items you are willing to do regularly to save energy around your home. Sign the checklist and return it to your teacher and you and your family will be an official "Super Energy Saver" family The Easy Energy Action Plan 10 Simple Ways to Use Energy Wisely Turn off the lights Use energy-saving lightbulbs Shut off computers. 4. Use smart power strips. 5. Turn off entertainment devices (TV, game systems, etc.) when not in use. 6. Use natural light, heat and cooling. 7. Unplug phone chargers when not in use. 8. Use ENERGY STAR appliances. 9. Use programmable digital thermostats. 10. Talk to your parents about energy saving home improvements. List other ways your family saves energy: Student s Signature: Parent s Signature: 8 10 Across 4. most common fuel for generating electricity 8. never-ending source 9. movement of charged particles to create energy 10. able to burn Down 1. these wires carry electricity from one place to another 2. converts high energy to lower energy 3. consumer-owned businesses 5. 1,000 kilowatts 6. type of facility used to make electricity 7. measurement of electricity The first use of water to generate electricity was in 1882 on the Fox river in the USA, It produced enough power to light two paper mills and a house. Electricity plays a role in the way your heart beats. Muscle cells in the heart are contracted by electricity going through the heart. Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines used in hospitals measure the electricity going through someone s heart. When the person is healthy it usually shows a line moving across a screen with regular spikes as the heart beats.