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Science Launch G4 / Week 05 / Monday
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Week 05 · Where Energy Comes From

Monday

Where does energy come from?
// Renewable and nonrenewable resources
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Where does energy come from?

Rocket flips on the kitchen light and stops. "Wait. The wire brings electricity to the bulb. But where does the wire get it?"

Raven looks up from her book. "And what about the gas in the car? And the wood in the campfire last summer?"

"Everything has to start somewhere," Rocket says.

Raven nods. "What do you notice about where those things come from?"

Nova taps the window with one wing. "Here is a clue," she says. "Look outside. Every energy source starts in nature."

Natural resources

All the energy and fuels people use come from nature. Things from nature that people use are called natural resources.

Some energy resources are renewable. Nature keeps replacing them, so they will not run out.

Other energy resources are nonrenewable. Their supply is limited, and they take a very long time to form.

RenewableNonrenewable
Sunlight (solar)Coal
WindOil (petroleum)
Moving water (hydropower)Natural gas
Heat inside Earth (geothermal)Uranium
Wood and plants (biomass)
Energy resourceIs it renewable?
Wind?
Coal?
Sunlight?
Natural gas?
Moving water in a river?
WHY THIS EXERCISEWind, sunlight and moving water keep coming back. Coal and natural gas do not.
Nature keeps replacing this kind of resource, so it will not run out. What is it called?
WHY THIS EXERCISERenewable resources are renewed by nature again and again.

Back to the source

Every energy source starts in nature. Let's trace a few.

The gas in a car is made from oil, a fossil fuel.

A campfire burns wood, which grew from a tree. Wood and plants are called biomass.

Some electricity comes from wind, sunlight or moving water. Some comes from coal or natural gas.

RENEWABLE OR NONRENEWABLE?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Oil. Renewable or nonrenewable?
Heat from inside Earth, called geothermal. Renewable or nonrenewable?
Uranium. Renewable or nonrenewable?
Something from nature that people use is a natural ____.
A resource that can run out is ____.
Wood and plants used for energy are called ____.
TRACE THE CAMPFIRE'S ENERGY
  • ?The wood burns in a campfire.
  • ?The tree grows and stores energy in its wood.
  • ?Sunlight shines on a tree.
  • ?Someone gathers the wood.
  • ?The fire gives off light and heat.
WHY THIS EXERCISEWood holds energy that a tree stored from sunlight.
Try it
With a grown-up, list three things at home that use energy.
For each one, guess what natural resource the energy might come from.

Good thinking! Tomorrow we dig into the past to see where fossil fuels came from.