Clean Energy: Hydropower
Grand Coulee Dam, Washington.Copyright Bonneville Power Administration http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/BPANews/Library/images/Dams/Coulee.jpg
Using the associated activities, Hydropower generation is introduced to students as a common purpose and benefit of constructing dams. Through an introduction to kinetic and potential energy, students come to understand how a dam creates electricity. They also learn the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy.
Civil, environmental, mechanical and electrical engineers all cooperate to design dams. They consider an array of variables that range from environmental impact to maximum amount of energy generation. After considering the complex interaction of these variables, they optimize their design for the greatest societal benefit.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Describe how a dam produces electricity.
- Differentiate between renewable and non-renewable energy.