Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I'm Miss Reid and welcome to our second lesson on Energy and Sustainability.

Let's have a look at our key question for today.

Our key question is, how do we produce energy? Now, this is the first lesson on two lessons that will be about how we produce energy.

So in this lesson, we'll be learning about how power was historically generated and the rise in the use of electricity throughout the Industrial Revolution that led to huge advancements in human capacity to power our world.

We'll learn about non-renewable and renewable energy and consider the pros and cons of fossil fuels.

So in this lesson, we'll look at our Star Words then we'll go on to think about power and energy.

And then we'll look at renewable and non-renewable energy before thinking about fossil fuels.

In this lesson, you'll need an exercise book or a piece of paper.

You'll need a pencil and you'll need your brain.

Pause the video now if you haven't got those things.

Here are our Star Words.

I'm going to say the Star Words and I want you to repeat them after me.

Fossil fuels, non-renewable energy, renewable energy, energy, power.

Power and Energy.

So, humans have always been interested in how to generate power.

For thousands of years, humans have used the wind to aid travel.

For example, by using sails on a ship and they've used the wind to power windmills, to mill grain and to pump water.

Humans have also burnt natural materials such as wood to create heat.

Your first task today.

Answer the question below.

Name two objects that humans powered using the wind in the past.

Pause the video now so you can complete that task.

I wonder if you got that right.

Let's have a look at the answer.

Did you remember that humans used the wind to power ships and windmills? Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answer.

Let's move on.

We're going to read some information about power and energy and how it was generated historically.

I'm going to read and I'd like you to read along with me.

Generating steam and using steam to power machines was pivotal to how technology and industry changed during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

In 1712, Thomas Newcomen developed the atmospheric steam engine, a precursor to James Watt's coal-powered steam engine of 1769.

This was used to power steam trains, which were more reliable and less expensive than the horses that had previously been used for work and for transport.

You can see in the images on the right-hand side, the image of the steam engine or the coal-powered steam engine that was later used to power trains.

And there is an image of the steam train as well.

I wonder if any of you have ever ridden on a steam train? It seems like a very antiquated thing to do now but you can still do it in parts of England.

So, here are some true or false questions.

Let's read through them.

One, steam was not very important to changes in technology and industry in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

True or false? Two, James Watt developed his steam engine prior to Thomas Newcomen's model.

Prior means before.

True or false? Three, steam trains replaced horses as methods of transport.

True or false? This information can be taken from the passages that we just read.

So, read through them again and then answer true or false to the statements.

Pause the video now so you can complete that task.

Well done, everyone.

Let's have a look at the answers.

Steam was not very important to the changes in technology and industry in 17th, 18th and 19th century.

That is false.

Two, James Watt developed the steam engine prior to, that means before Thomas Newcomen's model.

That's false, because Thomas Newcomen's model was the precursor that means it came before James Watt's model.

And number three, steam trains replaced horses as methods of transport.

That is true.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answers.

Let's move on.

We're still thinking about power and energy.

And we're going to read some more information on power and energy.

I'm going to read the information and again, you can read along with me at home.

Steam for machines.

The Victorians perfected the steam engine and put it to many uses.

By 1800, many mills and factories had steam engines to drive their machinery and their smoking chimneys dominated the skyline.

In this image, you can see a picture of an old mill and you can see that famous steam chimney that would have been used to ensure a steam didn't clog up the whole of the factory and it was released into the air.

Let's carry on reading.

Thomas Edison.

You might remember or you might have learnt that Thomas Edison was the man or inventor who first created the light bulb and actually got it to work.

Now, he was famous for a lot more than just the light bulb and we're going to learn about that now.

In January 1882, Thomas Edison switched on the first steam-generating power station at Holborn Viaduct in London.

The direct current, DC supply system provided electricity to street lamps and several houses within a short distance of the station.

So after he had created the light bulb in New York, he came over to England and he built the Holborn Viaduct power station, which you've just learned was powered by steam.

And that was very important to the journey of power stations being created across the country and then across the world.

The rise of electricity.

By 1881, water was being used to generate electricity and then humans discovered how fuels such as oil and gas could be burnt to generate electricity and to power cars.

So, in that last image you can see a power station, which you might have seen dotted across the countryside or across parts of the UK before.

And you can see in that image it's billowing steam out of its huge chimney.

What we learn from all of this is that after the Victorian Era and the Industrial Revolution and humans capacity to create power in lots of different ways using fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, there was all of a sudden a lot of energy being produced.

Here, you have a task.

You need to answer the question below.

Name three energy sources that humans have used to create power.

Think back to the slide before.

I'd like you to name one, two, three.

There are actually four that you could have named but I'd like you to try and think of three.

Pause the video now and complete that task.

Well done, everyone.

Let's see how you did.

So, the four power sources or energy sources that you could have named are steam, water, oil and gas.

You only needed to name three of them but you've got a bonus point if you managed to name all four.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answers.

Let's move on.

Now, we're going to think about renewable energy.

And some of you out there might know about some sources of renewable energy before.

You might even remember that in our last lesson we talked about the company Tesla and we talked about renewable energy sources that they were using.

So, energy.

Energy can be generated in lots of different ways and there can be different resources to generate those energy, that energy.

The first is wind energy.

Now, wind energy is generated by wind that turns a turbine to generate electricity.

It is considered renewable energy because the wind occurs naturally.

These are most successful in wide open spaces, where wind is most likely to occur.

This is why you often see them out at sea or in large fields or in or near the coastline.

Solar energy.

Now, solar energy is generated by the sun's light.

The sun's energy is then converted into electricity.

It's considered a renewable energy source because the sun's light occurs naturally just like wind.

It's more widely used in countries that experience higher levels of sunlight all year round, such as those nearer to the equator.

Hydropower.

Now, hydropower or hydro energy or hydro electricity, as it's sometimes called, converts the energy from fast flowing water into electricity.

And it's considered a renewable source of energy because the water cycle is constantly renewed by the sun.

Hydropower dams are usually found on fast flowing rivers.

Biomass energy.

Biomass energy is energy that's generated or produced by living or once living organisms. The most common biomass materials used for energy are plants such as corn and soy.

The energy from these organisms can be burnt to create heat, which can then be converted into electricity.

And finally, geothermal energy.

Now, geothermal energy is heat that's created within the subsurface of under the surface of the earth.

People can capture geothermal energy through geothermal power plants, which use the heat from deep inside the earth to generate steam, which can then be used to make electricity.

Let's go through those five sources of renewable energy.

I'll say them and then I want you to say them after me.

Wind energy, solar energy, hydropower, biomass, geothermal energy.

I'm going to take the pictures away, I want to see if you can name them without the images there.

Can you name the five different sources of renewable energy? Off you go.

Let's have a look and see if you got those right.

Wind energy, solar energy, hydropower, biomass energy, geothermal energy.

Give yourself a pat on the back if you managed to get all five right.

If you didn't manage to get all five right, you can still give yourself a pat on the back 'cause remembering any of the five is a fantastic job.

Now, let's talk about non-renewable energy.

Now, when we talk about non-renewable energy, we're thinking about energy that is not renewable.

We're thinking about resources that are not going to be available forever.

And that's why we call them, non-renewable.

Once they're used, we can't get them back.

Now, fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, that's the images and coal are formed from millions of years of decomposition of organic matter, such as plants and animals.

And these resources are extracted from the earth.

Now, natural gas and crude oil are found in reservoir, are found in reservoirs under the earth's surface and are extracted using drills.

Coal is extracted from the earth by digging deep underground and creating mines and people extract coal by hand.

Nuclear energy comes from splitting atoms in a reactor to heat water into steam, which then turns a turbine and generates electricity.

Let's recap those four types of non-renewable energy.

I'll say them and I want you to say them after me.

Fossil fuel oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy.

I'm going to take these pictures away and I want to see if you can remember all four.

Let's see if you remember them all.

Fossil fuel oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy.

Give yourself a pat on the back if you got one or even all four of those right.

So, I've got a task for you.

We're looking at renewable and non-renewable energy and the definitions of them.

You need to match the key words to the definitions below.

So the key words are renewable, non-renewable energy and fossil fuels.

Let's have a look at the definitions.

These are sources of energy that will run out.

Once they have been used up, there will be none left because they take millions of years to form.

Humans have used these up much quicker than the time it takes for them to form.

These are sources of energy that will not run out.

They keep on being generated by the planet because they are part of the planet's natural processes.

Coal, oil and gas are examples of these.

They formed millions of years ago.

Coal was formed by dead plants and oil and gas were formed by marine, ocean, plant and animal remains.

Your job is to draw the table and write the definitions and match the key words, renewable, non-renewable and fossil fuels to one of the definitions.

Pause the video now so you can draw the table and match the keywords to the definitions.

Well done, everyone.

Let's take a look at the answers so you can tick or fix yours.

So, non-renewable energy matches to the first definition.

These are sources of energy that will run out.

Once they have been used up, there will be none left because they take millions of years to form.

Humans have used up, used these up much quicker than the time it takes for them to form.

Renewable energy is matched the second definition.

These are sources of energy that will not run out.

They keep on being generated by the planet because they're part of the planet's natural processes.

And fossil fuels is the last definition.

Coal, oil and gas are examples of these.

They formed millions of years ago.

Coal was formed by dead plants and oil and gas were formed by marine, ocean, plant and animal remains.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answers.

Good work everyone.

Let's carry on.

We're still thinking about renewable and non-renewable energy.

I'm going to show you something.

These are statistics from 2019 that show the percentage of energy provided by non-renewable energy for these countries.

England in 2019, 61% of the energy used was non-renewable energy.

Whereas Iceland only used 15% or 15% of the total consumption was from non-renewable energy sources.

We have to question why Iceland is using much less non-renewable energy than England.

Let's have a look at where Iceland is situated in the world.

Have a look at where Iceland is situated in the world.

Let's zoom in.

You can see that it's situated in the Northern Hemisphere and quite far north.

Which of the renewable energy sources do you think it can take advantage of due to being an island and being so far north? That's a tricky question.

But perhaps point at one of the renewable energy sources that you think it might use.

Well, I can tell you that Iceland due to its position as an island and being so far north can take advantage of geothermal and wind energy.

Did you get that right? 65% of its consumption is geothermal energy that's produced in Iceland itself.

And 20% of its energy is, or at 20% of its energy consumption is wind energy.

Now, the other 15% is mainly fossil fuel oil.

When we think about this and when we think about the fact that England is using a lot more fossil fuels or non-renewable energy sources, you have to think about the idea of development again.

The idea that all countries around the world are on a journey of development.

And England or the UK is a country that is also on a journey for sustainability and it's trying every year to increase the amount of renewable energy that it uses and decrease the amount of non-renewable energy that it uses.

Hopefully, one day we'll be just like Iceland and we'll be using 85% or even 100% of renewable energy.

That's the aim.

We're going to do a task.

We're going to do a sorting activity while we look at statements about fossil fuels.

And we sort them into advantages and disadvantages.

But the first thing you need to do is draw this table.

Pause the video now and draw a table that's has advantages and disadvantages.

Leave enough space to include a number of statements, about 10 lines.

Now, you've drawn your table.

Let's have a look at the statements.

Let's read through all of the statements.

I'm going to read through them and you can read through them with me at home.

Oil and gas can be transported safely through pipelines.

Fossil fuels can release carbon dioxide when they are burnt, creating pollution.

Locating where fossil fuels are is quite easy.

The technology for extracting fossil fuels already exists.

Carbon dioxide is produced when burning fossil fuels, which contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

Mining can create ugly scars on the landscape.

Oil spills can cause environmental damage.

Oil is mainly produced outside the UK so prices are set by other countries.

When we think about oil, we can think about the fact that the U.

S.

A.

, Saudi Arabia and Russia are the three largest extractors of oil from the earth's surface.

And because of that, they can set the prices for other countries when they're buying the oil from the U.

S.

A.

, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

They generate large amounts of energy quite cheaply.

As technology improves, more reserves can be accessed.

Supplies are running out and new sources are harder to get to.

Oil and gas are both predicted to run out within 100 years.

Underground mining can be dangerous.

So, there are all your statements.

You need to sort them into the advantages, the good things and the disadvantages, the negative things about fossil fuels.

Pause the video now so you can sort those statements into your table.

Excellent work, everyone.

Let's check.

Let's look through the advantages first.

Oil and gas can be transported safely through pipelines.

Locating where fossil fuels are is quite easy.

The technology for extracting fossil fuels already exists.

They generate large amounts of energy quite cheaply.

As technology improves, more reserves can be accessed.

And disadvantages, that's the first one.

Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide when they are burnt, creating pollution.

Carbon dioxide is produced when burning fossil fuels, which contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming.

Mining can create ugly scars on the landscape.

Oil spills can cause environmental damage.

Oil is mainly produced outside the UK so prices are set by other countries.

Supplies are running out and new sources are harder to get to.

Oil and gas are both predicted to run out within 100 years.

Underground mining can be dangerous.

Pause the video now so you can tick or fix your answers.

So, I wonder what you think.

Do you think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for using fossil fuels? Or do you think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages? You can always use your facts that you've got, your statements to argue your point to a parent or carer at home.

You can say, "In my opinion, I think we should use fossil fuels because." Or, "In my opinion, I think we shouldn't use fossil fuels because." I wonder how many of you out there will be arguing for the use of fossil fuels or against the use of fossil fuels.

Well, we've had another fantastic lesson everyone.

And as always, if you'd like to share your work, you can share your work by asking a parent or guardian or carer at home to share your work on Twitter @OakNational using the hashtag #LearnWithOak.

I will see you next week for another fantastic two lessons on Energy and Sustainability.

Thanks, everyone.

Bye.