Vocabulary - SOL 6.2 & 6.9, Energy and Conservation Latin Roots: • Bio - Living Matter, Life • Infra - Beneath, Below • Ultra - Beyond, Extreme, More than • Geo - Earth, Soil, Global • Hydro - Liquid, Water • Re - Again, Back, Backward • Therm - Heat • Non - No, Not, Without • Radio - Radiation, Ray

Potential Energy - stored energy due to position, chemical composition, electrical charge, compression, or other factors. Examples: a book on the edge of a desk, sticks and matches that could make a fire, or a spring that has been compressed.

Kinetic Energy - energy that is being used for motion, chemical reaction, electrical flow, expansion, or other processes. Examples: a book falling off a desk, sticks that have been lit on fire, or a spring that has expanded rapidly.

Solar Energy - energy from the sun that is converted into thermal or electrical energy. Heat from the sun can be captured and used as a form of solar energy. In order for this process to take place, some form of solar technology must be used. There are two types of solar technology: passive and active solar. These types of solar technologies differ in the way in which solar energy is captured.

Wind Energy - a power that uses wind turbines to generate electricity from wind. Wind energy is an energy source that comes from the wind. This wind is converted into wind power and used as a source of electricity. The process of wind energy conversion is completed by wind turbines, wind pumps, and wind mills. Wind power is a good source of electricity because it is a renewable source and is constantly replenishing itself. Wind mills date all the way back to the year 2000 BC where they were used in China. One wind turbine could power up to 500 homes. The production of wind energy does not produce pollution.

Water Energy (hydropower) - a form of renewable energy that is created by harvesting energy from the gravitational force of flowing or falling water. This type of power first began to be harvested in ancient times when people used it to grind flour and for other uses. Further development to harvest energy from falling or flowing water began in the 1700s and in the 1800s power stations began to open, and by

1886 there were 45 in the U.S. and Canada. In 1889 there were 200 already in operation in the United States. Today it is estimated that 20% of the electricity generated around the world is done with hydropower.

Geothermal Energy - energy derived from the heat in the interior of the earth. The word root "geo-" refers to the Earth, as in geology the study of rocks or the Earth. Thermal refers to heat. So when we put the two words together geothermal refers to heat energy we get from the Earth. Many technologies are still being developed in the use of geothermal energy and many technologies are currently in use depending on the source of the geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is a clean renewable source of energy that does not utilize fossil fuels or produce greenhouse gases. The basic operation

of a geothermal energy system works in this manner: A heat pump moves the water through the coils. In the summer, the ground keeps the water cooler and is pumped into the house to cool the house. In the winter, the ground keeps the water at a relatively constant temperature that is warmer than the surrounding air. This water is pumped into the house and the heat is removed and used to heat the home.

Fossil Fuels - fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content. Fossil fuels are essentially the remains of plants of animals. They provide us with a source of nonrenewable energy. Fossil fuels can either come in the form of an oil, coal, or natural gas. They are the result of the decomposition of dead plant and animal matter buried deep in the

Earth's crust. These fossil fuels are then pumped from underground and used in a variety of ways.

Biofuels - Biofuel is a type of fuel that is derived through biological, rather than geological, processes. Biofuels can include ethanol, biodiesel, green diesel, vegetable oil, biogas, and different types of solid biofuels such as grass trimmings, garbage, and even dried manure. Biofuels, just as fossil fuels, contribute to air pollution when they are burned, but the amount of air pollution and ozone are lower and therefore contribute less to smog and acid rain. Despite their advantage over fossil fuels for their renewability factor, biofuels may not be better for the environment because of the amount of resources needed for growing the crops required for their production.

Renewable natural resources are those which can be replaced naturally or through human-assisted actions within a relatively short amount of time (e.g., within a human lifetime). Examples of renewable natural resources are plants, animals, water, air, and some energy resources, such as sunlight.

Nonrenewable natural resources are those available in limited amounts and take millions of years to be replaced; therefore, people can rely only on those deposits already in existence. Examples of nonrenewable natural resources are most minerals (e.g., iron ore)and some energy resources (e.g., fossil fuels).

Benefit - something that satisfies your wants.

Cost - what you give up when you decide to do something.

Ultraviolet Radiation - radiation lying in the ultraviolet range; wave lengths shorter than light but longer than X rays.

Infrared Radiation - electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths longer than visible light but shorter than radio.