Lesson Overview

Students will cut and paste icons that represent different sources of energy onto a map of Alaska and onto a pie chart to show the major sources of the state’s electrical generation.

Target Grades: K-2

Set Up Time: 10 minutes

Class Time: 45 minutes

Lesson Resources

Objectives

1. Name three or more energy resources used in Alaska. 

2. Create an Energy Map of Alaska by matching symbols representing energy resources to their proper geographic location.

Guiding question: What energy sources are used in Alaska?

Educational Standards

ALASKA ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS: K-2 SL.CC.1,2,3; K-2 SL.PK.4,5,6

ALASKA CULTURAL STANDARDS: E2

ALASKA MATHEMATICS STANDARDS: K MD.2; 1 MD.7

NGSS: K-ESS3-3

ENERGY LITERACY CONCEPTS: 4.1

Lesson preparation:
  • Read the Background section below.
  • Research the energy sources in your community.
Materials:
  • One copy of the Alaska Energy Map worksheet per student; print single-sided (download from “lesson resources” drop down above).
  • One pair of scissors per student.
  • One glue stick per one or two students.

Alaska has an abundance of diverse resources that can be transformed into energy. These resources fit into two main groups: non-renewable and renewable. Non-renewable resources have limited supply because it takes millions of years to create them. The main non-renewable resources are called fossil fuels. Renewable resources can be replenished quickly. They are created using the biological and natural processes that constantly occur on Earth like wind, sunlight, and waves.

Non-Renewable resources are made from small plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago in the Carboniferous Period. After these organisms died, they sank to the bottom of shallow seas and swampy ecosystems. Over time, they began to decompose under layers of sand, silt, clay, and other sediments. Millions of years of intense heat and pressure turned these decomposed organisms into fossil fuels. 

Alaska’s electricity is produced mainly from fossil fuels like diesel (also known as oil, made from crude oil), natural gas, andcoal.Natural gas and crude oil are found in abundance on the North Slope. Natural gas is also found in Cook Inlet near Anchorage and Kenai/Soldotna, and is used as the primary fuel source for space heating and electrical production in Southcentral Alaska. Alaska’s coal is recovered from Usibelli mine near Healy and burned at coal-fired power plants in interior Alaska. 

Renewable Resourcesrefers to energy resources that can be replenished through biological or natural processes at a rate that can sustain their consumption. These resources do not have to be mined from the Earth. They are processes that are occurring constantly like wind, sunlight, flowing water, and heat from the Earth’s core. Other forms of renewable resources take advantage of organic lifeforms that take short times to produce like wood, small plants, fish oil, and even human waste. Generally, renewable resources are much cleaner forms of energy creation and add minimal amounts of carbon to the atmosphere. 

Renewable Resources used currently used in Alaska includebiomass, geothermal, hydroelectric (“hydro), river hydrokinetic, solar, and wind.Hydro is the most used of these resources, including by some communities such as Juneau and Kodiak who are able to get to 100% (or close to it) renewable electricity. According to EIA.gov, in May 2021, electricity production in Alaska was from: 39% hydro, 29% natural gas, 17% coal, 11% oil, and 4% wind and other renewables. Heating production is not as well tracked, but mostly comes from natural gas and heating oil, with other significant production from biomass and electricity. Exploration of the tidal and wave resources is occurring in Alaska, especially in Cook Inlet, but is not currently in use. Nuclear, a non-renewable energy source, is not used in Alaska.

Biomass energy – Energy that comes from burning things that were recently alive like wood from trees or fish oil.

Coal – Coal comes from under ground. It is made of old plants that were alive millions of years ago.  People dig coal out of the ground and burn it for energy.

Crude Oil– A liquid fuel that comes from under ground. Crude oil is made of tiny dead plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. People drill to get it out of the ground. It can be used to make different fuels including diesel and gasoline.

Fossil Fuel – Any energy source that comes from fossilized plants or tiny animals that lived millions of years ago. Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas.

Geothermal Energy – A form of renewable energy that comes from heat inside the earth.

Hydroelectric Energy – A form of renewable energy that comes from moving water in rivers or lakes.

Natural Gas – A gas formed from dead organisms that were buried underground under heat and pressure for millions of years.  It can be burned to produce energy.

Non-Renewable Energy Resource – An energy resource that can run out. The three main types are petroleum, natural gas, and coal.

Ocean and River Hydrokineticenergy is created by using the force of moving water in the form of rivers, waves, and oceanic tides to spin turbines connected to a power generator.

Renewable Energy Resource – An energy resource that doesn’t run out if used correctly.  Examples are wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, and solar.

Solar Energy – A form of renewable energy that comes from the sun.

Wind Energy – A form of renewable energy that comes from the movement of the wind.

Gear Up:
  • Ask students how Alaskans used local resources before there was gasoline, electricity, or other resources we use today. Consider how they met all their energy needs for thousands of years with renewable resources – with plants and animals for food, trees, other plants, and animal oil for heating and light, hydro for travel, and more.
  • Ask students if they know which energy source(s) are used in the area where they live and what other resources might be available (if it gets windy, if there are rivers or coastline nearby, etc.) and discuss the answers.
  • Discussion can also include the pipeline and how most of the oil extracted on the north slope is exported out to be refined before being brought back to Alaska for use in our cars, planes, and electricity plants.
Activity
  • Show students the Energy Symbol Sheet and explain what each symbol represents:
    • Oil rig: oil
    • Flame: natural gas
    • Coal car: coal power
    • Water droplet: hydro power
    • Wind turbine: wind power
    • Steam riding from ground: geothermal
    • Tree: Biomass fuel
  • Ask students to cut out and then glue the shapes to their corresponding place on the map, matching the shapes and place names. You can either cut the shapes out prior to class or have students cut out the shapes themselves. The sheets could also be printed out onto labels to make stickers. 
  • Next have the students glue the energy icons to the wedges on the pie chart that represent the correct percentages of the state’s average annual electrical generation by fuel type.

Note: While the map has may wind turbines on it, wind power is a small fraction (less than 5%) of electrical power production in Alaska.

  • Wrap Up: 
    • Ask students if anything surprised them on types of energy in the state.
    • Discuss what local resources could be used more.
Extension
  • Once the maps are completed, have a representative from the local utility visit the classroom and explain how electricity is generated in the community and distributed to the students’ homes.n they return to the classroom, make a list of ways to save energy, and create a class job for a student to do one or two of those things (like turn off lights when class leaves). 
  • Take a walk outside to find power line poles and/or fuel tanks and talk about how the energy gets to the school.
  • Explore what types of energy are used in other states or regions of the world. Compare this with Alaska.
Evaluation
  • As an exit ticket, ask students to name energy sources used in Alaska.