Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Gulliver, and I'm so happy that you are joining me today to do some geography learning.

Today's lesson is called Non-Renewable Energy Sources, and it's from our unit on Energy: How do we power the world? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain why non-renewable energy sources are contributing to the energy problem.

Some of today's learning might be new to you, but that's okay.

I'm going to be here to help you along the way.

We've got four key words to go for our lesson today, so I will say them and then I will give you a chance to say them your turn.

So my turn, non-renewable energy, your turn.

Well done.

Renewable energy.

Great.

Climate change, well done.

And finally, carbon emissions.

Well done, we'll be finding out about these during the lesson, but we'll just go through their meanings now.

So non-renewable energy are sources such as fossil fuels that cannot be replaced and will eventually run out.

Renewable energy is types of energy that can be reused and will not be used up or run out.

Climate change is a large scale and long-term change in the planet's climate, including weather patterns and average temperatures.

And finally, carbon emissions are the release of carbon into the air and atmosphere around us.

So our lesson today is going to be broken into two parts, and our first part is about what are non-renewable energy sources? So we all use energy in many different ways each day, not just electricity.

There are other ways that we use energy as well, and it is essential for many of our daily activities.

Can you think of different ways that we and the world around us use energy every day? Well done.

I'm sure you had a great think.

Well, one of the ways we might use energy is at home we might use energy for heating the house, lighting the house, for our activities such as watching the TV or for cooking as well.

We do use energy at school for powering our computers, for heating the buildings for the lights that we use in all different ways.

Then in manufacturing, they will be using lots of energy to power machinery that is used to make them and build things.

Businesses use energy for all sorts of different ways, powering telephones and computers, heating and lighting office buildings.

And then finally transport users energy to power vehicles so that they can move around.

In 2021, over 80% of global energy used came from non-renewable energy sources, coal, oil, and gas.

And you can see in this pie chart that of all the global energy used in 2021, so around the whole world, 31% of that total energy that we used came from oil.

Oil was the most used energy source.

And this is a non-renewable energy source.

Non-renewable energy sources are fossil fuels, coal, oil, and gas.

And these cannot be replaced once they they're used.

They will eventually run out.

I'd like you to have a look at this check, and I'd like you to identify the non-renewable energy sources on this screen.

Have a think with the person next to you.

Well done, I'm sure you identified coal, gas, and oil as the non-renewable energy sources.

I've got another check, I'd like you to fill in the blanks in the sentence below.

In 2021.

of global energy used came from burning.

Including.

and natural gas.

I'll give you a clue.

The first blank is a percentage.

Have a go at filling in those blanks.

Did you find it tricky? Let's see what the answers were.

So in 2021, over 80% of global energy used came from burning? Ooh, what were they burning? Fossil fuels, well done, including coal, oil, and natural gas.

And we saw, didn't we, that the biggest producer of energy globally was oil.

So fossil fuels, these non-renewable energy sources such as gas, oil, and coal are transported all around the globe so that people can have energy and use these as sources of energy.

How do you think they're transported? Well done.

They can be transported in different ways.

They can be transported on ships, they can be transported in lorries, they can be transported on railways, and they can be transported through pipelines.

So they are used all around the world, and because of that, they need to be transported in a range of ways so that they can meet people's needs for energy.

Our first tasks for today, I've got three little questions for you.

Number one, we use energy at home and school.

I'd like you to think of two different ways that we use energy every day.

Number two, I'd like you to write your own definitions and explanations for the following terms, non-renewable energy source and fossil fuels.

And number three, which fossil fuel was used the most in global energy consumption in 2021.

Have a go at these questions and then we'll come back together to see how you've got on.

Here we've got our answers then.

So you might have said that we use energy for question number one in transport and manufacturing, or you might have mentioned at home or in schools and businesses.

I've got my definitions here for question number two.

So non-renewable energy sources are energy sources such as fossil fuels that cannot be replaced and will eventually run out.

And for fossil fuels, I said that's coal, oil and natural gas.

And like fossils, they are the remains of organisms, plants and animals, that lived long ago.

And question three, which fossil fuel is used the most in global energy consumption in 2021? That was oil.

Well done, great work.

So the second part of our lesson is going to be about why these non-renewable energy sources are a problem.

So I'd need to have a think first of all.

Do you know what the problem is with us using so much energy from non-renewable energy sources? Have a think with the person next to you.

Well, fossil fuels coal, oil and gas, are burnt in power stations to provide energy for us to use.

And when they are burnt, they release large amounts of carbon emissions.

So we're putting extra carbon into the air around the world.

And the problem with this is that that carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which traps the sun's heat around the earth.

And so when we put more greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, more of the sun's radiation is trapped and therefore our earth is warming up and getting hotter.

And this is leading to climate change.

You might have heard about climate change before.

So climate change is leading to a range of problems for humans and for wildlife and for our planet.

And we're gonna have a think about three of these problems today.

Do you know any of the problems that the planet or humans or wildlife are experiencing because of climate change? Well, one of the problems that you might have heard about is that because the earth is getting warmer, ice is melting.

So more of the planet's ice is melting and this is causing problems around the planet.

It's reducing habitats for wildlife and it is causing sea levels to rise.

Another problem you might have seen it flash up there, is that our sea levels are rising.

So this is linked to the melting ice.

And because our planet is getting warmer, the water is expanding, it's taking up more space, and rising, I'm sure you might be able to think of problems with rising sea levels.

Some low level islands might get flooded or disappear completely, and places that are along coastlines might also be affected.

And then finally, climate change is also causing more extreme weather.

Around the world we're seeing greater examples of flooding, of droughts, of wildfires, and of extreme weather that can cause problems to people and animals that are living in those places.

And these are all problems which are coming around because of climate change.

And that climate change is being impacted by us burning those fossil fuels to create energy.

Got a check.

A true or false.

Non-Renewable energy sources are contributing to climate change.

Is that true or false? Well done.

That's true.

And I've got two sentences to help you justify your answer.

So is it true because all energy sources are contributing to climate change, A? Or is it true because B, non-renewable energy sources release carbon emissions when burnt, which add to greenhouse gases, which trap the sun's rays.

Well done that one was B.

So a way of reducing climate change is for countries and people to stop using non-renewable fossil fuels as a source of energy.

So for us to stop using coal, gas, and oil as a way of creating and generating energy, do you know any other ways of producing energy and power? Well done, I'm sure you thought of renewable energy sources and there are sources of energy such as solar power or wind power, and they are sources of energy that won't run out or be used up and they don't release carbon emissions.

I've got your final tasks for today.

The first part of your final task, I'd like you to match the following terms to their correct definitions.

So I'd like you to match carbon emissions and climate change for their correct definitions.

And then I'd like you to write a short paragraph for question two.

In 2021, over 80% of energy used globally around the world came from non-renewable energy sources from coal, oil and gas.

Why is this a problem? I'd like you'd have a really long, hard think about that and use some great explanations as to why using those non-renewable energy sources is a problem for humans and wildlife and our planet.

So have a good go at those two tasks and then we'll come back together in a little bit and see how you've got on.

So I'm sure you match these definitions correctly.

I'm sure you match carbon emissions to the release of carbon into the air and atmosphere around us.

And climate change to the process of our planet heating up and getting warmer.

And then I wonder if you included some similar ideas to me in your explanation as to why using so many non-renewable energy sources is a problem.

And I wrote, "When non-renewable fossil fuels are burnt to produce energy, they release carbon emissions.

These carbon emissions are adding to the greenhouse gases already found in the atmosphere and are trapping more and more of the sun's heat.

This means that earth is gradually becoming warmer, and this is leading to climate change and problems such as rising sea levels, mounting ice and glacier and more extreme weather." I'm sure you came up with some very similar ideas and maybe some even of your own.

Well done, I'm sure you tried really hard with that task.

So to summarise our learning for today, non-renewable energy sources, fossil fuels, are those that cannot be replaced and will eventually run out.

Fossil fuels are transported across the globe by ships, lorries, railways, and pipelines.

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon emissions into the atmosphere which is causing our planet to warm up and is contributing to climate change.

A way of reducing climate change is for countries and people to stop using non-renewable fossil fuels and to instead use more renewable energy sources.

Thank you so much for joining me for this geography lesson about non-renewable energy sources.

I hope to see you soon, bye.