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Lesson Plan: Geothermal Power Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the advantages and disadvantages of geothermal power and locations that are suitable for geothermal power stations.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- recall the basic energy transfers that take place for geothermal power (internal energy of water kinetic energy of steam kinetic energy of a turbine electrical energy from a generator),
- recall the advantages of geothermal power:
- it is a renewable energy source,
- once built, geothermal power stations produce very few pollutants,
- geothermal power stations produce alternating current, so they are easy to hook up to the grid,
- recall the disadvantages of geothermal power stations:
- they can only be built in very few locations,
- they are relatively expensive for how much power they output,
- understand which locations are suitable for geothermal power stations:
- they generally need to be near sites of volcanic activity,
- do basic power and energy calculations using .
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the different categories of energy,
- the units of energy,
- what electricity is.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- how generators work,
- transformers,
- the national grid,
- plate tectonics.
