APES Study Guide 9

Nonrenewable Resources

This unit of APES will focus on the use of minerals and fossil fuels (the most popular energy sources being used in the world today) both are currently being used at unsustainable rates. You will learn about the environmental consequences of the extraction and use of these nonrenewable resources.

Textbook Reference

Miller, Living in the Environment, 16th edition: Chapters 14-15, Supplements 10 (S59-73) (p335-353; p355-382) (45 pages)

Other Materials

Modern Marvels, “Coal”

Vocabulary (66)

tectonic plate
convergent plate boundary
divergent plate boundary
transform fault
lithosphere
core
mantle
crust
mineral
mineral resources
ore
rock cycle
metamorphic rock
sedimentary rock
igneous rock
weathering
surface (strip) mining
subsurface mining
open pit mining
solution mining
mountaintop removal / overburden
tailings
smelting
bauxite
quarries
reclamation
General Mining Law of 1872
Surface Mining Control Reclamation Act of 1977
fossil fuels
crude oil
oil refinery
fractional distillation
petrochemicals
OPEC
natural gas
liquefied natural gas (LNG)
coal
peat
lignite
bituminous coal
anthracite coal / synfuel
oil shale
oil sands
proven reserves
estimated reserves
ANWR
light water nuclear reactor
pebble bed modular nuclear reactor
control rod
fuel rod
uranium
moderator
nuclear fission
chain reaction
low-level radioactive waste
high-level radioactive waste
nuclear fusion
gamma rays
Chernobyl, Ukraine
Yucca Mountain, Nevada
Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania

Study Guide Questions (SGQs)

1. Identify and discuss three ways in which plate tectonics has influenced life on Earth. For each, provide one example, which illustrates how life was influenced.
2. List and describe the environmental impacts of extracting, processing and using mineral resources.
3. Minerals are nonrenewable resources. Many are being exploited at rates that will deplete them within a generation or two. Discuss the economic and social effects of resource depletion and how a society can extend the lifetime of its limited resources.
4. Discuss the environmental and social effects that large-scale mining operations have on cities and towns.
5. Seawater is a potential source of many minerals. List and describe three of these, and describe how they might be exploited. / 6. Provide a description of the various types of fossil fuels include their sources and the methods used for their extraction. Compare and contrast the environmental effects of using biomass and using fossil fuels as energy.
7. Draw a diagram showing the working parts of a coal-fired power plant. Describe and explain the function of each component.
8. Develop arguments for and against a national gasoline tax of $4.00 per gallon. Discuss the range of impacts, and political obstacles to the enactment of such a tax.
9. Compare the environmental effects and dangers of nuclear energy versus fossil fuel energy. Consider not only the effects of operating power plants, but also of obtaining the fuel and disposing of the waste.
10. Draw a diagram showing the working parts of a nuclear power plant. Describe and explain the function of each component.

APES Calendar

Monday
February 4 / Tuesday
February 5 / Wednesday
February 6 / Thursday
February 7
Early Release / Friday
February 8

Unit 8 Test

Unit 8 Vocabulary and Notes Due
SGQs 6-10 Due /

Quiz

In Class:
Whiteboards- geo hazards & rocks recycled
HW:
read 5 pages / In Class:
Whiteboards- mineral resources
HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary / In Class:
Whiteboards- nonrenewable minerals

HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary / Dissolved Oxygen Lab Due
In Class:
Whiteboards- mineral sustainabilty
HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary
Monday
February 11 / Tuesday
February 12 / Wednesday
February 13
Report Cards / Thursday
February 14 / Friday
February 15
In Class:
Video clip
Major sources of energy used
HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary /

Quiz

In Class:
Video clip
advatntages and disadvantages of oil
HW:
read 5 pages / In Class:
advatntages and disadvantages of natural gas
video
Handout:
Energy Use Inventory
HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary / In Class:
advatntages and disadvantages of coal
video clip
HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary / In Class:
advatntages and disadvantages of nuclear energy
video clip
SGQs #1-5 due
HW:
read 5 pages
finish vocabulary
Monday
February 18 / Tuesday
February 19 / Wednesday
February 20 / Thursday
February 21 / Friday
February 22
School Closed
Handout:
Work on Energy Use Inventory
HW:
read 15 pages
10 vocabulary / Energy Use Inventory Due
In Class:
Fossil Fuels
HW:
read 5 pages / In Class:
Radioactivity & Nuclear Energy
Modern Marvels
HW:
Finish reading / In Class:
Review Unit
Modern Marvels
HW:
Prepare for Test /

Unit 9 Test

Unit 9 Vocabulary List Due
SGQs 6-10 Due
Monday

February 25

/ Tuesday
February 26 / Wednesday
February 27 / Thursday
February 28 / Friday
March 1st
In Class:
Efficiency of Important energy
Cut energy waste
HW:
read 10 pages / In Class:
Advantage and disadvantage of solar energy & electricity from water cycle
HW:
read 10pages / In Class:
Advantage and disadvantage biomass as energy & electricity from wind
HW:
read 10pages / In Class:
Advantage and disadvantage of geothermal energy & hydrogen energy
HW:
Prepare for Test /

Unit 10 Test

Unit 10 Vocabulary List Due
SGQs 1-10 Due