Energy – Middle School
1. Who finds new sources of oil or natural gas?
A. geoscientists
B. power dispatchers
C. home energy raters
D. insulation workers
2. Who coordinates and regulates the distribution of electricity in a grid?
A. power dispatchers
B. home energy raters
C. insulation workers
D. geoscientists
3. Who does energy audits to make homes more efficient?
A. home energy raters
B. insulation workers
C. geoscientists
D. power dispathers
4. Who puts insulation in the walls of a home to make it more energy efficient?
A. insulation workers
B. geoscientists
C. power dispatchers
D. home energy raters
5. What happens when you rotate a magnet inside a coil of wire?
A. an electrical current is generated in the wire
B. the magnet loses its magnetism
C. the wire cools down
D. nothing
6. What can convert the fluid motion of wind, water or steam into rotary motion to rotate a magnet inside a coil of wire?
A. a turbine
B. a solar cell
C. a boiler
D. a motor
7. What does the rising of air heated by the sun, plus the turning of the earth cause?
A. wind
B. earthquakes
C. tides
D. weathering
8. Which of these materials is most effective in reducing thermal energy transfer?
A. fiber glass insulation batts
B. window glass
C. aluminum siding
D. a film of water
9. Which of these materials is most effective in increasing thermal energy transfer?
A. a film of water
B. fiber glass insulation batts
C. Styrofoam
D. a waterbird's downy feathers
10. Which of these is a system with potential energy?
A. water standing in a reservoir behind a dam
B. an engine turning the wheels of a car
C. wind turning the blades of a wind mill
D. the sun warming the air so that it rises
11. Which of these objects is exhibiting kinetic energy?
A. falling water turning a turbine
B. the cellulose in a piece of wood
C. the electrodes in a battery (when not connected)
D. water standing in a reservoir behind a dam
12. What energy source moves water from a low place to a high place, increasing the water's potential energy?
A. the sun
B. a waterfall
C. rainfall
D. tides
13. Which of these is produced by slowly heating wood in the absence of oxygen so that almost nothing but carbon is left?
A. charcoal
B. oil and natural gas
C. kerogen
D. ashes
14. Which of these is mainly the remains of prehistoric algae and plankton?
A. oil and natural gas
B. coal
C. abiogenic oil
D. charcoal
15. Which of these is mainly the remains of prehistoric land plants?
A. coal
B. oil and natural gas
C. abiogenic oil
D. charcoal
16. Which of these energy resources are renewable over human time scales?
A. trees
B. coal
C. oil
D. natural gas
17. Which of these resources is only renewable over geologic time scales?
A. coal
B. trees
C. wind
D. rainfall
18. R-value is the ability of a material to resist heat flow. For fiberglass batts thicker than 5", R-value increases by 3 units for every inch increase in thickness. If the R-value of a 6.25" batt is 20, what is the R-value of a 12 " batt?
A. about 38
B. about 56
C. about 24
D. you can't tell from the information given
19. 3,412 Btu is equal to 3.6 million joules. How many joules are in 1,706 Btu?
A. 1.8 million
B. 3.6 million
C. 3.412 million
D. you can't tell from the information given
20. Heating one gallon of water 1°F takes 8.33 Btu. A shower uses about 10 gallons. How many Btu does it take to warm up 10 gallons from 60° F to 120° F. Assume no energy losses.
A. about 5,000 Btu
B. about 10,000 Btu
C. about 2,500 Btu
D. about 600 Btu
21. What is the most common renewable energy source used by power plants in the midwest?
A. wind
B. solar
C. biomass
D. hydroelectric
22. What is the most common renewable energy source used by power plants in the southeast?
A. biomass
B. solar
C. wind
D. geothermal
23. What is the most common renewable energy source used by power plants in the northwest?
A. hydroelectric
B. wind
C. biomass
D. geothermal
24. What does a refinery do with crude oil to get it to separate into different fractions to make products like gasoline or jet fuel?
A. it heats it
B. it adds chemicals to it
C. it forces it through sieves with different size meshes
D. it strains out the impurities and it is ready to go
25. What units are used for measuring crude oil or petroleum?
A. barrels
B. cubic feet
C. tons
D. kilowatt-hours
26. What units are used for measuring coal?
A. tons
B. gallons or barrels
C. cubic feet
D. kilowatt-hours
27. What units are used for measuring natural gas?
A. cubic feet
B. tons
C. gallons or barrels
D. kilowatt-hours
28. What units are used for measuring electricity?
A. kilowatt hours
B. tons
C. gallons or barrels
D. cubic feet
29. What units are used for measuring energy?
A. joules, Btus, kilowatt hours or calories
B. liters, gallons, barrels or cubic feet
C. kilograms, lbs or tons
D. cords
30. Which are the major coal mining states in the U.S.?
A. Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky
B. Georgia, Florida and Louisiana
C. Washington, Oregon and Minnesota
D. Texas, Alsaska and North Dakota
31. Where are the major oil reserves in the U.S.?
A. Texas, Alaska and North Dakota
B. Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky
C. New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
D. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oregon
32. What is the distance a food or drink item has traveled from where it is produced to where it is consumed?
A. a food mile
B. feet per row
C. food efficiency
D. potential energy
33. What is an interconnected network for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers?
A. the grid
B. the rack
C. a rod
D. the wires
34. What does temperature measure?
A. the average kinetic energy of atoms
B. the average potential energy of atoms
C. the average number of atoms
D. the total mass of atoms
Correct Answer - A