Ten Interesting Things About Energy: by NASA - Gov, Adapted by Newsela Staff On 02.17.17 Word Count 893 Level MAX
Ten Interesting Things About Energy: by NASA - Gov, Adapted by Newsela Staff On 02.17.17 Word Count 893 Level MAX
Ten Interesting Things About Energy: by NASA - Gov, Adapted by Newsela Staff On 02.17.17 Word Count 893 Level MAX
Water rushes through a dam in Georgia. Inside the dam is a hydropower plant. It uses the water's energy to generate electricity. Photo by:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Energy is the ability to do work. Another word for energy is "power." It is what makes things move,
work and grow. Energy powers the lights in our schools and homes and fuels our cars and buses. A
lot of the energy we rely on each day comes from materials dug up from deep in the earth, such as
coal and oil. Today, scientists and other experts are learning more about renewable sources of
energy, such as wind, water and sunlight.
Always Turn Off Lights When You Leave The Room, Unless...
You should always turn off the light when you leave a room, because it can save a lot of energy. But
if you have special light bulbs called CFLs, you don't always have to turn them off. Turning them
on and off too many times shortens their lifespans. You should turn them off if you'll be gone for
15 minutes or more, but if you'll be right back, you can leave them on.
A flowing river is powerful, and we can use the flow to make electricity. Ancient Greeks built water
wheels to grind grain thousands of years ago. Today, every state uses hydropower, which is
electricity from the flow of water. In Washington state, 70 percent of the electricity comes from
hydropower. Hydropower plants are inside dams, such as the Hoover Dam. Some places don't
build dams, but instead use just part of a river to make electricity.
All that waste we flush down the toilet and put in our trashcans doesn't have to go to, well, waste!
When waste breaks down, it can release methane, a natural gas that we can trap and use to make
electricity. This is also helpful because methane is a greenhouse gas. If we use it, we keep it out of
the atmosphere. This is great for the environment.
When we talk about energy, we all need to use the same unit to compare numbers. Just as we
might use feet or meters to talk about length, we need a unit for energy. The standard unit of
energy is called the BTU, which stands for British Thermal Unit. It's the amount of energy needed
to raise the temperature of a pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. When you burn a four-inch
kitchen match, it releases about 1 BTU of energy.
(A) Most people are surprised that batteries do not work very well.
(B) Scientists are looking for a way to store renewable energy sources.
(C) Solar and wind energy are important sources of renewable energy.
2 Which of the following sentences from the article includes a central idea?
(A) Today, scientists and other experts are learning more about renewable sources of energy, such as wind,
water and sunlight.
(B) The heat from burning coal is used to boil water, and then the steam moves a turbine and generates
electricity.
(C) Even though that sounds small, it's actually 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours, which is about how much
electricity 100,000 houses use in a whole year.
(D) Wind has been a source of renewable energy since the invention of the windmill thousands of years
ago.
3 How does the section "Coal Is King, But Not Everywhere" relate to the section "Electric Vehicles Are Great, But Not
Everywhere"?
(B) Both sections discuss the states that are currently using coal.
(D) Both sections discuss the affect that coal has on the Earth.
4 Why does the author include the last paragraph in the article?