Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin and I'm really looking forward to learning all about burning plants as fuel.

And let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Properties, changes, and separating materials.

Your learning outcome is, I can investigate which plants might be used as alternative fuels to fossil fuels.

Now I know that learning can sometimes be a little bit challenging, but that's okay because it just means that we are going to work really hard together and we are going to learn lots of fabulous new things.

Let's begin.

So here are your five keywords for today's lesson, along with the definitions for those keywords.

Now I am going to be referring to these throughout today's lesson.

However, if you feel that it is helpful, you can pause the video here and you can jot these words and phrases and the definitions down if you find it helpful.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

Now our lesson today is split into three parts.

Let's begin with the first part, fuels and fossil fuels.

Now Izzy doesn't like eating breakfast in the morning, but her dad says she has to.

And Izzy's dad says, "Breakfast gives you the fuel you need for the day!" And Izzy is confused by this.

She has heard of fuel but thought it was something used in cars and other machines.

Now what do you think fuel is? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So a fuel is something that can be used to produce heat or light.

And when Izzy's dad talks about breakfast as fuel, he means that the food will provide Izzy's body with what it needs to work properly.

And in many cars, the fuel is petrol or diesel, which is made from crude oil.

And it's burned inside the engine to produce heat that moves the parts that drive the car forwards.

Now let's do a quick check-in of your learning before we move on.

So a something is something that can be used to produce heat or light.

So what would you think would go in that blank space there? So a is something that can be used to produce heat or light.

So do you think it is A, metal? B, clock.

C, fuel.

Or D, plastic.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

The answer is fuel.

Now traditional power stations burn coal, oil, or gas as fuel to generate electricity.

And fuels like coal, crude oil, and natural gas are known as fossil fuels.

And Izzy says, "I remember learning about fossils when I was younger.

I know that fossils are formed when living things, such as an animal or plant, has been preserved in rock." Now fossil fuels are made over millions of years from fossilised plants and animals buried deep beneath the Earth's surface.

And because of this, fossil fuels are found deep underground.

And to access them, we need to dig down into many layers beneath the Earth's surface.

Now to access fossil fuels, we need to dig down into many layers beneath Earth's surface.

And this is an oil rig that extracts oil from under the seabed.

So the platform is anchored to the seabed, which means that it's almost fastened to the seabed really securely so it's not going to move.

And giant drills make holes in the seabed and the oil is pumped up to the surface.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

Where are fossil fuels found? Is it A, in Earth's atmosphere? B, deep under Earth's surface.

C, around the sun.

Or D, within the moon.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

The answer is B, deep under Earth's surface.

Now Lucas says, "Fossil fuels are made naturally from living things, so they must not cost anything to use." And Izzy says, "There are millions of living things on Earth, so we will never run out of fossil fuels." And humans have used fossil fuels since the 1800s for heating, transport, and generating electricity, and soon we will have used up all the fossil fuels on Earth.

Now one concern is that one day soon there will be no more fossil fuels left for us to use.

Now fossil fuels take millions of years to form, and we need more fossil fuels more quickly than they are being created.

And another concern is that burning the fossil fuels creates harmful gases and it creates a lot of air pollution.

And harmful gases can cause air pollution and lead to breathing problems like asthma.

And you might even know people in your family or your friends who have asthma, and some of that may have been caused by air pollution.

Now one of the gases produced is carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas.

Now greenhouse gases collect around Earth and acts like a blanket, trapping the Sun's heat.

So here we have a diagram to show greenhouse gases around Earth.

Now in recent years, the amount of greenhouse gases has become too high and Earth's climate is starting to change.

Now what's happening is the temperature is rising and it's getting hotter and so habitats are changing and some plants and animals are finding it harder and harder to survive.

The population of the world is also increasing, so there's more and more people in the world.

And to ensure that there will be enough fuel for future generations, we need to consider the sustainability of the sources that we use.

Now if something's sustainable, it means that it can be kept the same because it doesn't run out and it doesn't cause damage.

And sustainable fuel is fuel which comes from sources which are not going to run out.

And fossil fuels are not sustainable because eventually, fossil fuels will run out.

Now here is your first task for today, and it says, the main fossil fuels are coal, crude oil, and natural gas.

And I want you to find out which type of fossil fuel is used for each of these activities.

Now in some cases, more than one type of fossil fuel is possible.

So I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So for transport, I might have oil for diesel and petrol, but in the past, trains used coal.

Generating electricity is coal and natural gas.

Cooking is natural gas.

Electric cookers may use electricity from coal and gas.

Making plastic, so use oil to make plastic.

And for heating, you may have oil, gas, or coal.

Now we are on to the second part of our learning today, which is plants as fuel.

Now Lucas says, "I have seen wind turbines and solar panels which generate electricity." Now do you think wind and Sun are fuels too? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So wind and the Sun can be used to generate electricity but this is not quite the same as fuel.

So when we talk about sustainable fuels, we mean things that can be burned or processed in another way to produce heat and light.

Now can you think of anything that we could use? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So plants are something that we can use, and plants are a sustainable source of fuel because we can just keep growing more.

And biofuels are fuels made from plant materials.

So for example here, we've got the wood chip.

Now some plants are burned directly as fuel to produce heat or light.

And others are processed into other forms, like biogas or biodiesel, which are then used as fuel.

Now wood pellets and biogas are burned in some power plants to produce electricity.

And in some homes and factories, wood is burned directly to produce heat.

And Izzy says, "We have a wood burner at home instead of a gas boiler." Now biofuels like biodiesel and biogas are now used in public transport all around the world.

And it allows communities to use up waste, reduce harmful emissions, and to operate more sustainably.

However, biofuels are not a perfect solution.

So like fossil fuels, biofuels release carbon dioxide on burning.

However, plants also absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, so many people argue that these two facts balance each other out.

And it can take a lot of land and water to produce biofuels.

So here we've got growing crops for biofuels requires a lot of land.

And this is a problem in places where there's already a limited amount of land for food productions of growing food.

Now let's do a quick check-in of your learning, and it says, what makes plants a sustainable source of fuel? Is it A, we can keep growing more? B, they will eventually run out.

Or C, they are healthy to eat.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

The answer is A, we can keep growing more.

Now let's do a quick true or false.

So biofuels are better for the planet than fossil fuels because they do not produce carbon dioxide when burned.

Is that true or false? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is false.

Now let's see if you can justify your answer.

Is it because A, biofuels produce more carbon dioxide than fossils when burned? Or B, biofuels do not produce carbon dioxide when burned but they also absorb it as they grow.

Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is B.

Now here is task B.

It says the children are discussing biofuels, and Izzy says, "Biofuels sound perfect.

I'm not worried anymore about fossil fuels running out." Sam says, "Biofuels sound like a good idea but scientists still need to do more research on how we produce and use them." And Lucas says, "Biofuels are worse than fossil fuels because they will run out quicker." Now who do you agree with and why? I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

So Sam is correct.

"Biofuels sound like a good idea but scientists still need to do more research on how we produce and use them." Now the production of biofuels is a positive step in moving towards sustainability.

Biofuels are more sustainable than fossil fuels.

However, it takes a lot of land and water to produce biofuels, and they do still produce carbon dioxide when burned.

Now we are on to the final part of our learning today, which is comparing biofuels.

Now not all plants make sustainable biofuels.

So plants that grow slowly are not suitable, as they could not be replaced quickly.

And some plants do not burn well.

So cacti, for example, do not burn well.

And some plants are expensive to grow.

Now scientists and engineers investigate which plants are the best ones to grow for biofuels.

And they've discovered that grasses, sugarcane, and some tree species, like willow and poplar, grow quickly and burn well, making them really suitable to create biofuels.

Now trees like oak, yew, and cedar are less suitable because they grow too slowly.

Now the sustainability of plants for sustainable fuel also depends on the way that they are grown.

So if they are grown in a way that damages the land and makes it worse for future growth, they are not sustainable.

So if deforestation is needed to make space for crops, that damages the land.

And the type of farming and forestry used affects how much damage is done to the land and how well plants can continue to grow in a particular place over many years.

Now let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

Which type of professional investigate.

Which type of professionals investigate which plants are the best ones to grow for biofuels? Is it A, doctors and nurses? B, teachers.

C, electricians.

Or D, scientists and engineers.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

The answer is D, scientists and engineers.

Now this is Izzy and Lucas.

And Izzy and Lucas want to find out which plants would make a good biofuel.

Now they can't investigate all the different factors like the damage done to the land or how quickly the plants grow.

So they decide to investigate which plants would burn best.

Now they want to try burning straw, wood chip, and leaves.

So their teacher weighs 10 grammes of each biofuel and puts each in a small tray filled with sand.

So it's really important that she weighed that to make sure that it's a fair test.

And then the teacher lit each one and the children observed them burning.

So that's really important it was the adult who is lighting the fire.

Now what would be useful things to observe or to measure here? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic.

Well done.

So the children observed how easy it was to light the biomass.

They timed how long they burned for, and they also recorded anything else they noticed.

Now let's do a quick check-in of your learning, and it says, which of these plants would be the most suitable biofuel? A, a plant which grows quickly and needs a lot of land and water.

B, a plant which grows quickly and does not need much water or land.

Or C, a plant which grows slowly.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

The answer is B.

Now here is your final task for today, and it says, look at the children's results and use them to decide which plant might be a good alternative to fossil fuels.

So I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So here are the photos of each tray after burning.

So you've got the wood chips.

They were burned completely.

Most of the straw burned.

And the leaves lit but kept going out and didn't burn much.

Now with an adult, I want you to try the children's investigation using your own choice of plants.

So I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fabulous.

Well done.

So looking at that table of results and the pictures, we know that the wood chips would be the best biofuel because it was fairly easy to light and it burned for a long time.

So 370 seconds.

The straw also lit but burned very quickly, only 80 seconds, so it would not last as long as fuel.

And the leaves lit but they didn't stay alight.

They kept going out.

Now the next one was, with an adult, try the children's investigation using your own choice of plants.

So here are some examples.

You could have done wood chips, dry pine needles, fresh pine needles, grass.

And we think that wood chips would still make the best biofuel because we were able to light them and they burned for longer than the dry pine needles.

So now we are on to the summary of our learning today.

A fuel is something that can be used to produce heat or light.

Fossil fuels are found deep under Earth's surface and there is a limited amount left.

Plants are a sustainable source of fuel, as we can keep growing more.

Like fossil fuels, biofuels release carbon dioxide on burning.

And scientists and engineers investigate which plants are the best ones to grow for biofuels.

Now you have worked really, really hard.

I am so proud of your fantastic critical thinking in today's lesson.

Well done.