Year 9 Science · Unit 3 · Lesson 13
Foundation Worksheet
Learning Goals
True or false? Fix the false ones
Circle T or F. If a statement is false, correct it on the line.
Coal is a renewable energy source because new forests grow back after logging.
Correct it:
Natural gas produces less carbon dioxide than coal for each unit of energy it releases.
Correct it:
Fossil fuels formed from plants and tiny sea creatures that were buried millions of years ago.
Correct it:
Nuclear power stations release large amounts of carbon dioxide while they generate electricity.
Correct it:
Earth is making new coal and oil about as fast as we are using them.
Correct it:
Sort it: renewable or non-renewable?
Write each energy source in the correct box.
Renewable
Non-renewable
1. What does “non-renewable” mean? Use coal as your example.
Energy chain: a gas-fired power station
Fill in the missing forms of energy.
2. A gas-fired power station needs fuel delivered to it all the time, but a wind farm does not. Explain why, and what this means for which of the two will eventually run out.
3. Natural gas is sometimes called “stored sunshine”. Explain where the energy in natural gas originally came from, and how it came to be stored underground.
Data: the energy in petrol
Lesson 13 says that 1 litre of petrol holds about 34 MJ of chemical energy, which is enough to move a car roughly 15 km.
| Trip | Distance (km) | Petrol used (L) | Chemical energy in the petrol (MJ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| To school and back | 6 | 0.4 | 13.6 |
| A week of shopping trips | 45 | ||
| A holiday drive | 360 |
Source: values from Lesson 13; trips are sample values.
4. Complete Table 1. The first trip is done for you: 6 ÷ 15 = 0.4 L, and 0.4 × 34 = 13.6 MJ.
5. (a) Suppose only 30% of the petrol’s chemical energy ends up moving the car. For the holiday drive, calculate the useful kinetic energy and the waste energy. (b) Petrol is non-renewable, yet it is still used for long drives. Suggest why, using Table 1.
(a) Useful kinetic energy MJ
(a) Waste energy MJ
Someone claims…
“Coal is still forming today in swamps around the world, so coal is really a renewable energy source.”
6. Do you agree? Explain how coal forms, compare how fast it forms with how fast we use it, and say what burning it adds to the air.