Electricity New

Renewable energy around the globe

Learn about renewable energy sources, investigate power plants around the world, and look at them on the world map.

Grade

4-9

Duration

1.5 hours

Type

Class discussion

Overview

In this activity, students will learn about renewable energy sources which harness the natural power of Earth from a slideshow. Then they will choose a power plant to investigate and record information in the worksheet, such as what type of power it generates and how many houses it can power. Finally, they will share their investigation with the class using an EarthBall, globe, or world map.

By the end of the activity, students will understand how the naturally occurring energy of Earth allows us to generate renewable energies, and they will have a better idea of where these renewable power sources are used around the planet.

Earth Day 2026 giveaway

We're giving away EarthBalls for your class to use in the new activity. Visit the giveaway page to check if you are eligible and sign up, while supplies last. Check it out!

Instructions

What you'll need

Renewable Energy Sources slideshow, to be displayed to the class
Power Plant worksheet, one copy printed per student
One EarthBall, globe, or world map
Stickers to place on the world map
Optional: Power Plant Reference List, displayed or distributed to the class

Opening discussion—To start, ask the these questions and give the class a chance to share their answers. See the Teaching notes for more background information to support your discussion.
- What’s the difference between energy and electricity?
  - It may not be easy for students to define, but energy occurs all around us in the world whereas electricity refers to the energy in our grid which powers our devices, like computers and lightbulbs.
- What different ways is electricity created?
  - Examples may include hydro dams, solar power, wind power, coal plants, nuclear plants, and more.
- How is most of B.C.’s electricity generated? (hydroelectricity)
- Which ways are considered renewable? Which ways aren’t?
  - Renewable energy generation comes from sources that don’t run out. For example, hydroelectricity harnesses power from rivers which is available endlessly as long as a river has running water. Solar power comes from the sun’s rays which never run out.
- What is considered clean energy?
  - Clean energy is energy that doesn’t produce emissions (pollution) and which has less impact on the environment.
  - Students may start mixing up renewable and clean energy, which often go together but aren’t always the same thing.
  - Clean energy still has some environmental impacts, but causes less direct pollution.
Explain that there are many ways which renewable energy is generated around the world. These different sources are tailored to the unique features of each region. For example, B.C. has lots of running rivers which make hydroelectricity possible. Some places have lots of sun, so they benefit more from solar energy.
Slideshow—Open the Renewable Energy Sources slideshow to explore five of the cleanest renewable energy sources on Earth. For each one, students will have a chance to “guess that power source” based on a brief description, then they’ll briefly learn how each power source harvests energy and some of the benefits.
- Each section includes a list of the top generators of each energy type, plus where Canada ranks globally. Discuss what natural and other influences might affect the places where each energy source is used most.
Discuss the fact that each of these power sources are used all around the world. Let them know that they will now each be investigating one power plant (a site where energy is generated) where one of these renewable energies is harnessed. They will then share with the class afterward and help build a map of energy sources.
Researching power plants—Each student will need to research one power plant so that they can record facts on the worksheet and then share it with the class. There are several ways you can let them to choose which site to research, depending on how much guidance they need:
- A) Assign each student a type of power (like solar, etc.) and task them with finding a power plant of that type to share.
- B) Assign each student a country or continent and task them to find one of the renewable energy sources there. Students who were born in another country may be interested to find a power plant in their home country.
- C) Use the Power Plant Reference List to help students choose between some of the largest power plants of each type.
Give each student a copy of the Power Plant Worksheet. They will record the name of a power plant and fill in the facts about that power plant. This will require the internet to do research, so they can do it in class with connected devices or at home as homework.
Optional: If students are looking for a power plant to investigate, they can explore the Global Energy Monitor website. For each type of power, the website features an interactive map showing power plants around the world and their output in Megawatts (MW). For example, this map shows hydroelectric power plants all around the world.
Share your power plants—After students have researched a power plant and recorded some facts on the worksheet, introduce the EarthBall, globe, or world map. Tell them that they will each get up one at a time to describe the power plant they researched. They will then take the map and put a sticker on the location (or approximate location) of the power plant. This way the class will be able to visualize the places they're talking about.
After every student has presented and added their sticker, show the class the EarthBall and all the different locations they’ve found renewable energy is used. Also point out any areas that haven’t been covered and ask the class if they can guess what energy sources might be used there.
To finish the activity, give every student a chance to share which renewable energy source they are most excited about and why, and to share where they would put more power plants to create renewable energy. Optionally, you can use the Earth Ball as a “talking stick” and have the students pass it around to give each other their turn—and they can take a look at the Earth to think about their answers.

Modify or extend this activity

To add higher stakes to choosing their power plant to research, you can offer bonus marks for choosing a power plant from a country that no other student has chosen. This way the class will gather more diverse examples.
Instead of stickers, students could add colour-coded labels where they’ve written the energy type. This way, they can look around the globe and think about where they found different energy types.

Curriculum Fit

Applies Design, Skills, and Technology 4-9

Big Ideas

The choice of technology and tools depends on the task. (Gr. 4-5)
Design can be responsive to identified needs. (Gr. 6-8)
Complex tasks may require multiple tools and technologies. (Gr. 6-8)
Social, ethical, and sustainability considerations impact design. (Gr. 9)

Content

Power Technology:

Forms of energy
Devices that transform energy
Renewable and sources of energy
Conversion and transmission of energy
Alternative energy sources

Competencies

Applied Technologies:

Identify the personal, social, and environmental impacts, including unintended negative consequences, of choices about technology use
Identify how the land, natural resources, and culture influence the development and use of tools and technologies

Ideating:

Evaluate personal, social, and environmental impacts and ethical consdierations
Critically analyze and prioritize competing factors, including social, ethical, and sustainability considerations, to meet community needs for preferred future

Sharing:

Critically reflect on design thinking and issues

Social Studies 7-9

Big Ideas:

Human and environmental factors shape changes in population and living standards (Gr. 8)
The physical environment influences the nature of political, social, and economic change. (Gr. 9)

Content:

human responses to particular geographic challenges and opportunities, including climates, landforms, and natural resources (Gr. 7)
scientific and technological innovations (Gr. 8)
physiographic features and natural resources in Canada (Gr. 9)

Teaching Notes

The goal of this activity is to learn about different naturally occurring sources of energy which are harnessed for renewable electricity. Then, students will learn about where these renewable energies are used around the world. They will learn how the natural features of our Earth influence the ways we power our technology.

We kept the instructions simple so that students have an opportunity to learn about, engage with, and explore natural energy sources. The teaching notes contain further considerations for more in-depth conversations about generating electricity.

What’s renewable, and what’s clean?

Defined simply, renewable energy comes from sources that won’t run out, and clean energy comes from sources which produce few or no emissions. It’s often assumed that both are interchangeable but that isn’t always true. Every source of electricity has some kind of environmental impact, and non-renewable sources are still an important element of electric grids around the world.

On the Natural Resources Canada website, Bioenergy is listed as one of Canada’s renewable energies. It’s considered renewable because it utilizes organic materials like wood, crops, and industry byproducts. We won’t run out of these fuel sources, but they aren’t as clean as other renewable energies because it still produces emissions from burning fuel. That said, it can also repurpose what would otherwise be waste, so the benefits versus negative impacts are complex.

Discussion points

These are some talking points which can spark conversation for the class during or after the activity.

What are the best sources of energy? The easiest way to judge from the surface is to choose the cleanest forms of energy. But coal has been a cheap way to produce a high amount of energy, so competing with it in the market has not been easy in many places. Then there’s nuclear energy, which is highly effective but also comes with larger potential risks.
What influences the energy choices each country makes? More than ever, countries around the world are prioritizing energy sources that cause less environmental problems both locally and globally. But they also have to consider the amount of energy needed, the potential natural energy sources of their region, and the price to produce energy.
How does the natural world influence our energy production? Hopefully, students will notice that working with natural features of the Earth instead of against them allows us to harness the most energy. Mountainous areas with lots of rivers are better at producing hydroelectricity. Sunny deserts are better for solar energy, while windy plains are more suited to wind energy.

Benefits and challenges of renewable energy

In the activity slideshow, we focus on introducing different types of renewable energy and their benefits, with the goal of learning about the exciting opportunities for clean energy which are used around the world.

Hydroelectricity: This energy source produces a lot of energy, and it doesn’t produce emissions. But historically, hydro operations have often hurt animals living in the waterways and destroyed habitats and homes when the reservoir is flooded. BC Hydro now prioritizes assessing environmental impact, protecting fish, and working with local populations to mitigate damages—but it’s a complex process.
Solar: Solar energy is the simplest to harness—install solar panels and convert the sun’s rays into electricity without any emissions and with minimal maintenance. But the process of building solar panels is not clean as it involves mining and building the components, and the shipping process usually uses fossil fuels. As solar technology improves and becomes less expensive, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks more over time.
Wind: Wind energy, like solar, involves installing wind turbines that then passively continue to harness naturally occurring wind for electricity. The challenge is that they are big and change how landscapes look, they produce noise, and they can harm bird populations in the skies around them. It’s important for communities to learn the benefits versus the challenges of wind, and it can be installed in places with less impact such as off-shore and in remote areas.
Tidal: Tidal power is an emerging opportunity to harness clean electricity from the naturally occurring waves of the ocean. But it’s important to consider how tidal plants shape and impact the local environment. Past plants have often been built without consideration for the wildlife they impact. Newer designs are built more carefully to be safe for wildlife.
Geothermal: Geothermal is a great way to harness naturally occurring thermal energy from the Earth, as opposed to burning fossil fuels. However, it’s very location-specific to places with geothermal potential. Plus building geothermal plants alters the environment at the site, which can release trapped gases and even trigger earthquakes. This form of energy has a lot of potential but needs to be built carefully.

If your class is ready, engage in discussions about the pros and cons of different energy sources. These challenges shouldn’t discourage them from being excited about renewable energy, they just mean that anything we build will have consequences which need to be managed carefully and considered against the benefits. The world is now producing more clean electricity than ever, and every year we get better at managing the impacts of these different types of power plants.

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