ATOM

S MAK

E UP

EVER

YTHI

NGEv

eryt

hing

is m

ade

of a

tom

s—ev

ery

star

, eve

ry tr

ee, e

very

ani

mal

. Ev

en p

eopl

e ar

e m

ade

of a

tom

s. Th

e ai

r and

wat

er a

re, t

oo.

Ato

ms

are

the

build

ing

bloc

ks o

f the

uni

vers

e. T

hey

are

very

, ver

y tin

y pa

rtic

les.

Mill

ions

of a

tom

s w

ould

�t o

n th

e he

ad o

f a p

in.

BIOM

ASS I

S ANY

THIN

G TH

AT IS

ALI

VE O

R W

AS A

LIVE

A SH

ORT T

IME A

GO T

rees

, cro

ps, g

arba

ge, a

nd a

nim

al w

aste

are

all

biom

ass.

Mos

t of t

he b

iom

ass

we

use

for e

nerg

y to

day

is w

ood

and

biof

uels

mad

e fr

om p

lant

s.

We

burn

thes

e ite

ms

to m

ake

heat

and

pow

er o

ur v

ehic

les.

COAL

HAS

ENER

GYCo

al lo

oks

like

shin

y, b

lack

rock

. Coa

l has

lots

of e

nerg

y in

it.

Whe

n it

is b

urne

d, it

mak

es h

eat a

nd li

ght e

nerg

y.

Man

y ye

ars

ago,

Nat

ive

Am

eric

ans

burn

ed c

oal t

o m

ake

pots

. Th

e ea

rly s

ettle

rs d

idn’

t use

muc

h co

al—

they

bur

ned

woo

d.

Peop

le b

egan

usi

ng c

oal i

n th

e 18

00s

to h

eat t

heir

hom

es.

Trai

ns a

nd s

hips

use

d co

al fo

r fue

l. Fa

ctor

ies

used

coa

l to

mak

e iro

n an

d st

eel.

Toda

y, w

e bu

rn c

oal m

ainl

y to

mak

e el

ectr

icity

.

THE E

ARTH

IS H

OTG

eoth

erm

al e

nerg

y is

hea

t ins

ide

the

Eart

h. T

he in

side

of t

he E

arth

is v

ery

hot.

Som

etim

es th

is h

eat c

omes

nea

r the

sur

face

. We

can

use

this

hea

t to

war

m o

ur h

ouse

s. W

e ca

n m

ake

elec

tric

ity w

ith it

.

The

Eart

h is

mad

e of

par

ts o

r lay

ers,

like

a ha

rd b

oile

d eg

g. A

t the

cen

ter i

s a

core

of i

ron.

A

roun

d th

at is

an

oute

r cor

eof i

ron

and

rock

so

hot t

he ro

ck is

mel

ted.

Thi

s liq

uid

rock

is c

alle

d m

agm

a.

The

mid

dle

laye

r is

a m

ixtu

re o

f roc

k an

d m

agm

a ca

lled

the

man

tle.

The

shel

l of t

he E

arth

—w

ith th

e oc

eans

and

mou

ntai

ns—

is c

alle

d th

e cr

ust.

WE U

SE N

ATUR

AL G

AS EV

ERY D

AYA

lmos

t eve

ryon

e us

es n

atur

al g

as.

Mos

t hom

es u

se n

atur

al g

as fo

r hea

t. So

do

scho

ols

and

hosp

itals

. M

any

stov

es a

nd w

ater

hea

ters

use

nat

ural

gas

, too

.

PETR

OLEU

M IS

NOT

MAD

E OF D

INOS

AURS

Petr

oleu

m w

as fo

rmed

from

tiny

sea

pla

nts

and

anim

als

that

die

d hu

ndre

ds o

f mill

ions

of y

ears

ago

. Th

is w

as before

dino

suar

s liv

ed.

PHOTOSYNTHESISAll living things need energy to grow.

Plants use water and light from the sun to grow. Plants change the energy from the sun into sugar and store it in their roots and leaves.

This is called photosynthesis.

PROP

ANE I

S USE

D AT

HOM

EPr

opan

e is

mos

tly u

sed

in ru

ral a

reas

that

do

not h

ave

acce

ss to

natu

ral g

as s

ervi

ce. H

omes

use

pro

pane

for h

eatin

g, h

ot w

ater

,co

okin

g, a

nd c

loth

es d

ryin

g. M

any

fam

ilies

hav

e ba

rbec

ue g

rills

fuel

ed b

y pr

opan

e ga

s. So

me

fam

ilies

hav

e re

crea

tiona

l veh

icle

seq

uipp

ed w

ith p

ropa

ne a

pplia

nces

.

WE U

SE SO

LAR

ENER

GY IN

MAN

Y WAY

SA

ll da

y, w

e us

e su

nlig

ht to

see

wha

t we’

re d

oing

and

whe

re w

e’re

goi

ng.

Sunl

ight

turn

s in

to h

eat w

hen

it hi

ts th

ings

.W

ithou

t the

sun

, we

coul

dn’t

live

on th

e Ea

rth—

it w

ould

be

too

cold

. W

e us

e th

e su

n’s

ener

gy to

hea

t wat

er a

nd d

ry c

loth

es.

ENER

GY FR

OM M

OVIN

G W

ATER

Hyd

ro c

omes

from

the

Gre

ek w

ord

mea

ning

wat

er.

Hyd

ropo

wer

is th

e en

ergy

we

mak

e w

ith m

ovin

g w

ater

. M

ovin

g w

ater

has

a lo

t of e

nerg

y. W

e us

e th

at e

nerg

y to

mak

e el

ectr

icity

.

Gra

vity

—th

e fo

rce

of a

ttra

ctio

n be

twee

n al

l obj

ects

—m

akes

the

wat

er m

ove.

G

ravi

ty p

ulls

the

wat

er fr

om h

igh

grou

nd to

low

gro

und.

Th

e ra

inth

at fa

lls in

the

mou

ntai

ns �

ows

dow

n th

e va

lleys

to th

e oc

eans

.

WIN

D IS

MOV

ING

AIR

We

can

use

the

ener

gy in

win

d to

do

wor

k. E

arly

Egy

ptia

ns u

sed

the

win

d to

sai

l shi

ps o

n th

e N

ile R

iver

. Pe

ople

stil

l use

win

d to

mov

e sa

ilboa

ts. I

n th

e N

ethe

rland

s, pe

ople

use

d w

indm

ills

to g

rind

whe

at.

The

Pilg

rims

used

win

dmill

s to

grin

d co

rn, t

o pu

mp

wat

er, a

nd to

run

saw

mill

s. To

day,

we

use

win

d to

mak

e el

ectr

icity

.

DYIN

G TO

GIV

E YOU

ENER

GYBi

omas

s is

any

thin

g th

at is

aliv

e or

was

aliv

e a

shor

t tim

e ag

o.

Tree

s, cr

ops,

garb

age,

and

ani

mal

was

te a

re a

ll bi

omas

s. M

ost o

f the

bio

mas

s w

e us

e fo

r ene

rgy

toda

y is

woo

d an

d bi

ofue

ls m

ade

from

pla

nts.

W

e bu

rn th

ese

item

s to

mak

e he

at a

nd p

ower

our

veh

icle

s.

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