Alternative Energy presentation

For your alternative energy presentation, your group will give a 5-10 minute presentation about a form of alternative energy.

There’s not much time left before the end of the year, so here’s the timeline.

Wednesday and Thursday, you should find your topic below and review the web links. Take some notes–make an outline of important features of your topic.

Friday in class: refer to the reference books about your topic to finish up your outline and start working on your script for your presentation.

Friday in tech class: start to build a powerpoint slideshow about your topic

Friday for homework: finish up your outline/script and your slideshow. Save your slideshow in your class’s folder in MSShare. (That’s MSShare: Science: Science 6: 2015).

On Monday, the presentations start.

Make sure you assign jobs in your team. One person could take the lead on the script, and another could work on the PowerPoint. You can also divide up the planning; for instance, one person could be in charge of explaining how the technology works, another could be in charge of explaining the problems or downsides of the technology, and the third could be in charge of giving a real-life example of the technology in action.

Your presentation should include the following:

• How does the technology work? What is the basic science behind your type of energy?
• What are some of the problems with your technology? Are there safety risks? Environmental risks? Economic risks?
• What are some real-life examples of your technology? Where is it being used?

Topics:

Biomass Energy

• Basic science from Energy Kids
• Example 1: Electricity from landfill gas
  
• Example 2: Biodiesel fuel for cars
• Example 3: Energy from turkey guts
• Example 4: Cow poop into electricity for Google
• Problems with biofuels

Nuclear Energy

• Basic Science: Energy Kids, How Stuff Works
• Problems with Nuclear Power: Nuclear Disasters, Nuclear Waste
• Example 1: New nuclear power plants in USA
• Example 2: Nuclear power in France

Solar Energy

• Basic science: Energy Kids, New York Times
• How solar panels work
• Example 1: Solar energy projects in California, Arizona, and Florida
• Example 2: Solar Power from Space

Wind Power

• Basic science: Energy Kids, How Stuff Works
• Example 1: Cape Wind, America’s first offshore wind farm
  
• Example 2: Texas, America’s largest wind energy producer: Inhabitat.com, Wikipedia
• Environmental impact

Geothermal Power

• Basic Science: Energy Kids, Energyquest
• Example 1: Iceland
• Example 2: United States
• Example 3: Geothermal energy in New York City

Hydroelectric Power

• Basic science: Energy Kids, USGS
• Problems with hydroelectric power
  
• Example 1: Tidal turbines in the East River
  
• Example 2: Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest dam