Human Impact Unit 13
Overview of Unit - Human activities impact the availability of renewable and nonrenewable resources. There are ways to conserve these natural resources.
#1 Students will investigate the scientific view of how the earth’s surface is formed.
Explain the effects of human activity on the erosion of the earth’s surface.
Describe methods for conserving natural resources such as water, soil, and air.
#2 Students will describe various sources of energy and with their uses and conservation.
Explain the role of the sun as the major source of energy and its relationship to wind and water energy.
Identify renewable and nonrenewable resources.
QUESTIONS
#1 How might the conservation and resource strategies used today affect your future? Give examples.
#2 How can land uses be modified so as to minimize erosion?
#3 In what sense is the energy from wind, hydroelectric, coal, and oil really energy from the sun?
#4 Which strategies that your family could use to conserve energy would be easiest and why?
#5 Why is soil considered a nonrenewable resource?
#6 How might it be possible to run out of a renewable resource? Give examples.
Resources: Renewable vs. Nonrenewable
1. Renewable resources can be replenished within a relatively short time (months, or years, or tens of years).
2. Nonrenewable resources form very slowly, over millions of years, over time periods of millions of years.
3. Nonrenewable resources form very slowly on or within the Earth.
4. Nonrenewable resources accumulate slowly according to the human time scale.
5. Earth has a set quantity of the resources.
6. Renewable resources include:
fresh waterfresh air
plantsplant products (food, natural fibers, lumber, fuel)
animalsanimal products (food, leather)
windmoving water
sun for energy
7. Nonrenewable resources include:
fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
soil
metallic minerals (iron, copper, gold, silver, lead, mercury, zinc, uranium)
nonmetallic minerals (kaolin, salt, lime, sulfur, diamonds, sand)
8. The future supply of most non-renewable resources is uncertain, but “running out” is less of an issue than how much it will cost to extract the resource as the supply diminishes.
Negative Effects of Humans on the Environment
9. Human activity can have a positive or a negative impact on the surface of our Earth.
10. Human activities can cause erosion.
11. Human activities can accelerate erosion.
12. Earth’s resources can be reduced or used up if humans don’t use conservation strategies.
13. When hydrocarbons are burned as fuel, they release a greenhouse gas (CO2) that is linked with global warming.
14. Burning hydrocarbons also releases pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons that contribute to air pollution.
15. Certain gases in the atmosphere trap heat in the lower atmosphere (troposphere). This phenomenon has been referred to as the greenhouse effect.
16. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and chlorofluorocarbons.
17. Ozone protects life on earth by absorbing most incoming solar ultraviolet radiation.
18. The hole in the ozone layer allows Ultraviolet radiation to reach the earth. Ultraviolet radiation is known to cause skin cancer and has damaging effects on plants and wildlife.
19. Chloroflourocarbons (CFC) released by aerosol cans have damaged the ozone layer and this made a large hole in the ozone layer.
20. Statues are being damaged because of air pollution from burning coal.
21. Strip mining is the process some companies use to obtain fossil fuels. They dig giant holes in the Earth, destroying forests, rivers, lakes.
22. Strip mining can destroy entire ecosystems.
23. People lived on Greenland for hundreds of years until they slowly starved to death. Cutting downall their trees led to their destruction.
24. Cutting down trees ruined Easter Island.
Fossil Fuels
25. Electricity is considered a secondary source of energy because it takes other sources of energy, such as coal or solar to create electricity.
26. Currently, most electricity is generated through nonrenewable energy sources.
27. Most electricity in the U.S.A. is generated by coal burning power plants because it is the cheapest to use and produces large amounts of energy.
28. The three types of fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas.
29. Fossil fuels are the most commonly used nonrenewable resources.
30. The energy in fossil fuels originally came from the sun.
31. The sun provides energy to plants and the plants use photosynthesis to help them grow.
32. The ultimate source of the energy in fossil fuels is from the sun. Photosynthetic plants and marine algae lock this energy into organic matter. When we burn plants, coal, oil, or gas, we release the sun's trapped energy.
33 Burning fossil fuels releases their stored energy.
34. Three problems with burning fossil fuels are air pollution, water pollution, and soil pollution.
35. Carbon dioxide is released when burning fossil fuels.
36. Coal is an organic rock that originally came from dead swamp grass that compacted over millions of years.
37. The fossil fuel coal formed from the remains of plants that lived and died around 100 to 400 million years ago, when parts of the earth were covered with huge swampy forests.
38. Coal is considered a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form.
39. Of the fossil fuels, natural gas produces the least amount of pollution.
40. Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, with other hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen sulfide.
41. Natural gas is an energy source often used for heating, cooking, and electricity generation.
42. Petroleum oilis a nonrenewable fossil fuel usually found underground in reservoirs located in sandstone or limestone. This fossil fuel is made from sea plants and animals.
43. The energy source used more than any other in the U.S.A. is oil.
44. Gasoline is made from the fossil fuel oil.
45. Oil and gas are formed from the remains of marine plants, animals and microorganisms that lived in seas millions of years ago.
46. Propaneis a nonrenewable fossil fuel that is a derivative of natural gas and petroleum.
47. When present supplies of nonrenewable resources used up, there will be no more.
Solar Power
48. The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the Earth's surface, including winds, ocean currents, and waves.
49. Solar electricity can be produced in photovoltaic cells that can be placed on rooftops and other sunny places.
50. A photovoltaic cell makes energy by changing solar radiation into electricity.
51. The cost of photovoltaics continues to drop dramatically, but they are still several times as expensive as the cheapest electricity.
52. The sun's energy can be used economically without conversion to electricity. Some uses are to heat water for home use, and to heat and light buildings designed to take advantage of the sun's path through the sky
53. Solar energy does not require the use of turbines.
54. Solar energy produces less pollution than any other method of energy production.
55. The biggest problem with solar energy is the cost.
Wind Energy
56. Wind electricity is produced by turbines which can be grouped together on a "wind farm."
57. Wind electricity is cost-competitive with other forms of electricity.
58. Only certain parts of the country such as the Great Plains states have enough strong, steady wind for widespread wind power development.
59. The lack of locations of sufficient winds for wind turbines is the biggest problem wind energy.
Hydroelectric Power
60. Hydroelectricity is produced by turbines below dams. The turbines are moved by moving water.
61. Hydroelectricityis inexpensive.
62. Hydroelectricity is the most widely used form of renewable energy.
63. The best sites for hydroelectricity in the U.S. have already been dammed, and further dams would have to displace valuable urban and farm land.
64. New hydroelectric power plants in the United States are unlikely to occur because there is a lack of locations where the construction of dams is feasible.
65. Dams can cause damage to the environment by ruining ecosystems for plants and animals by flooding.
Biomass and Other Energy Sources
66. Biomass is the energy production that comes from burning organic materialthat were recently harvested.
67. Ethanol is a combustible liquid made from plants that can be burned to make energy.
68. Two problems with biomass are air pollution and use of too much land.
69. Heating water from magma intrusions to make electricity is called Geothermal.
70. Geothermal energy is heat energy that originates from within Earth and drives the movement of Earth’s tectonics’ plates.
Nuclear Power
71. Nuclear (uranium) energy comes from the nucleus of an atom.
72. Nuclear energy is released through either fusion or fission.
73. In nuclear fusion, energy is released when the nuclei of atoms combine.
74. Fusion is a process in which particles of an element collide and combine to form a heavier element, such as the fusion of hydrogen into helium that occurs in the Sun’s core.
75. Hydrogen fuel cells are an experimental energy source that combine hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction to make energy called fusion.
76. In nuclear fission, (the only process currently in use) energy is released when the nuclei of atoms are split apart.
77. Uranium (nonrenewable) is the fuel used by nuclear power plants.
78. Uranium is the unstable element that nuclear reactors use to generate electricity.
79. Nuclear fission splits atoms to produce energy.
80. Nuclear power is generated from the heat released when uranium atoms split.
81. The heat from nuclear fission boils water to make the steam that turns the turbines to generate electricity.
82. The nuclear reactors use water to cool down the immense heat that is generated in this nuclear fission reaction.
83. Chernobyl is the location of one of the worst nuclear accident in history.
84. Another one of the worst nuclear accidentoccurred in Japan after a tsunami.
85. Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania is the location of the worst nuclear accident in the U.S.
Conservation
86. Through conservation strategies, people can slow down the degradation of the environment and the depletion of non-renewable resources.
87. Properly planned conservation strategies increase comfort levels and quality of life while using fewer resources and restoring the environment.
88. Many strategies for conserving resources save money as they protect the environment.
89. Good soil conservation techniques include:
contour plowingterraces
crop rotationstrip planting - different crops in strips;
cover cropsplanting groundcovers - roots hold the soil
windbreakstree planting
mulching
90. Allowing the environment to degrade continuously can result in disasters for peoplethat may not have an affordable solution.
91. Human societies have long caused environmental problems whose effects persist for generations, and the scale of these problems is rapidly increasing
92. Pavement and buildings increase storm water runoff, which accelerates stream bank erosion.
93. In general, wetlands and forests protect water quality more effectively and cheaply than human technology.
94. Of the total energy used in the U.S., most comes from petroleum, followed by natural gas and coal.
95. The atmosphere and the oceans have a limited capacity to absorb wastes and recycle materials naturally.
96. Cleaning up polluted air, water, and soil can be difficult and very costly.
97. Restoring depleted soil, forests, and fishing grounds can be very difficult and costly.
98. Burning coal contributes to air pollution and acid rain. Burning low sulfur coal produces less acid rain.
99. Because we are using some of our resources faster than they are being replaced, we are now recycling more of these resources instead of digging them out of the ground.
100. What are three ways to prevent soil erosion? Ground covers, wind breaks, and no till plowing.
Vocabulary
conservation - preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife
energy - the ability to do work. Energy is how things change and move
nonrenewable resource -any natural resource in limited supply and cannot be replaced if it is used
up; examples - oil and coal
renewable resources – a natural resource that can be replenished within a relatively short time (months, or years, or tens of years).
thermal power – energy in the form of heat
hydroelectrical power –energy generated by the pressure of moving water
biomass – organic matter that contains stored energy from sunlight and that can be burned as fuel.
carbondioxide – (CO2) causes greenhouse gases and in turn causes global warming
chlorofluorocarbons – (CFC) released by aerosol cans have damaged the ozone layer and this made a large hole in the ozone layer.
electricity - the movement of electrons.
fossil fuels - a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms
Photovoltaic Cells – A cell that makes energy by changing solar radiation into electricity