A power plant burns coal to make electricity. Coal is dug up from deep underground. How is coal best classified?

A town gets electricity from turbines that spin whenever the wind blows. Why do scientists call wind a renewable energy source?

Heat from hot rock deep underground is piped up to warm buildings in a town. How is this energy source classified?

Uranium, the fuel used in a nuclear power plant, is a nonrenewable natural resource.

A tree farm cuts trees for firewood and plants new seedlings in their place. Why can the wood be called a renewable resource here?

Loggers clear a forest much faster than new trees can grow back there. What does this show about renewable resources?

A natural resource that nature cannot replace in a short time is called a ___ resource.

One power plant burns fuel and sends smoke into the air. A nearby wind farm makes electricity without burning any fuel. What advantage does the wind farm have for the environment?

At a dam, flowing river water spins a wheel that makes electricity. Why do scientists count this moving water as a renewable energy source?

The ocean tide rises and falls each day, and engineers use the moving tide water to turn a machine that makes electricity. How is tidal energy classified?

A family's stove burns natural gas piped up from deep underground. Why will the supply of natural gas not last forever?

A student says a resource is renewable whenever a huge amount of it sits underground. What is the mistake in that idea?

A lake has plenty of fish, but people catch fish much faster than fish can reproduce. What will happen to the fish supply?

A farm lets its bare topsoil blow away in dry winds. Why is this soil hard to replace?

Aluminum cans are made from bauxite, a rock that is mined from the ground. Why does recycling aluminum cans help?

Which resource is nonrenewable, and why?

A forest has a healthy deer population, but hunters take far more deer each year than can be born and grow. What happens to the deer population?

Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are classified as nonrenewable. Why?

Which pair includes only resources that are replaced naturally in a short time?

A sunny desert town far from the ocean has almost no wind and no rivers nearby. Which renewable energy source would work best there?

What is one disadvantage of relying mainly on nonrenewable resources like coal and oil for energy?

All resources on Earth can be replaced quickly if people use them up.

A plastic bottle is made from petroleum. Which statement explains why the bottle is linked to a nonrenewable resource?

Wool is a renewable resource because sheep grow a new coat of wool every year.

Farmers pump water from a river to water their crops much faster than rain and snowmelt can refill the river. What could happen to the river's water supply?

A solar panel charges a battery using sunlight. Why does sunlight count as a renewable energy source here?

Which of these things is made from a nonrenewable resource?

A town pumps water from an underground well faster than rain can soak back into the ground to refill it. What can happen over time?

Which statement best compares renewable and nonrenewable resources?

A company harvests bamboo from a forest faster than new bamboo shoots can grow tall enough to cut. What does this show?

Wood chips and other plant material can be burned to make electricity. This is called biomass energy. How is biomass classified?

What is an advantage of using solar energy instead of coal to generate electricity?

Solar panels make electricity only when sunlight reaches them. What is one disadvantage of using solar energy?

Which pair correctly matches a nonrenewable resource with a renewable resource that could replace it for making electricity?

A campground wants electricity that will not run out even if used every day for 100 years. Which source fits best?

A resource must be unlimited to be called renewable.

Which energy source makes electricity without burning any fuel, and why?

A pond loses water to evaporation faster than rain and streams can refill it during a long dry spell. What does this show about the pond's water?

Which statement explains why oil, coal, and natural gas are grouped together as fossil fuels?

Which question can help decide whether a resource is renewable or nonrenewable?