Fuels of the Earth

What are fossil fuels?

Fossil fuel are oil, natural gas, and coal, which formed from the fossilized remains of plants and animals. In prehistoric times, dead animals and plants became buried inside sedimentary rocks and slowly turned into fossils. Over millions of years, heat and pressure changed the fossil into fuel, in the form of oil, gas, and coal, which can be burnt to release heat.

Where do oil and gas come from?

Oil and gas come from rocks deep within the ground. People use very long drills and pipes to release oil and gas. The rocks are sometimes under land but are often found under the ocean. People drill holes deep into the sea floor and squirt chemicals down the wholes to release the fuels. The oil and gas can be made into gasoline, plastic, and other products.

When will fossil fuel run out?

As per estimates the world oil and gas will run out by 2050, and coal by 2100, if we continue using them at the same rate as today and don't discover any new stores of them in the ground. Fossil fuels are non renewable, which means once they are used up they are gone. To save energy, people must use more renewable energy, such as sunlight, wind, or moving water, that will never run out.

Can people turn waste into fuel?

Yes, heat energy is released when plant waste, such as unwanted wood or crops, is burnt. "Biodegradable waste", such as leftover food, animal manure, scrap paper, and weeds, is degraded, or broken down, by bacteria to make biogas and fuel. Some crops, such as sugar cane and corn, are specially grown to make biofuel.

Materials from Plants

Plant materials are an essential part of our lives, keeping us warm, dry, safe, and even-in case of musical instruments-entertained. From woods to leave, plants supply many of our raw materials.

What types of things can be made from plants?

We make all kind of things from plant materials. Wood alone is used to make countless objects, big and small, from construction lumber to toys. All kinds of cloth are also made from plants-and so is the paper that you write at.

What is JOJOBA?

Jojoba is a bush found in Mexico. The fruits have a high grade of oily wax. It is used as a lubricant, in printing inks, and in body lotions and shampoo.

What are violins made of?

The body of a violin is usually made from finely carved source and maple woods, creating beautiful sound.

What is Balsa?

Balsa is the world lightest wood-it floats high in water. Balsa trees grow in tropical South America. Balsa wood is used for making models, such as airplanes, and also for rafts, life preservers, and insulation.

What is RAFFIA?

Raffia is a natural palm made from the young leaves of Raffia palm, which grows in tropical Africa. Raffia is used in handicrafts, such as basketry.

Plants as medicine

Plants have been used as medicine for atleast 100,000 years. In much of the world especially in China and India, herbal remedies are used more than any other kind of medicine. Today, scientists are still researching the valuable healing properties of plants for use in conventional medicines.

Can plants help fight cancer?

Several plants are effective against cancer tumours. One of the most famous is the rosy periwinkle. One of its extracts, vincristine, is very effective against some types of lukemia, a cancer of the blood.

Which plant aid digestion?

Many plants, including the herbs and spices used in cooking, help digestion. In Europe, the bitter extract of wild gentians provides a good remedy for digestive problems.

What is GINSENG?

Ginseng is a plant related to ivy, and has been used as a herbal medicine for centuries. It is claimed-but not proved-to help many conditions, including fatigue and depression, a kidney disease, heart problems, and headaches.

Which plant helps combat MALARIA?

Quinine , from the bark of the quinine tree, which grown from south America Andes, and can cure or prevent MALARIA. before the widespread use of quinine, Malaria used to kill two million people each year.

Which plant is believed to help ASTHMA?

Lungwort is a herb with purple flowers and spotted leaves that are said to look like lungs. For the reason, it is sometimes used to treat asthma. That is no definate proof that it works.

Can WILLOW help pain?

Willow twigs were once chewed to give pain relief. A compound similar to drug aspirin was once extracted from willows and the herb meadowsweet, known as spiraea-giving aspirin its name.

Plant Products

Plant products are used for different uses, depending on their natural properties. The softness of cotton makes it ideal for clothing. The Springiness of rubber makes it perfect for products from rubber bands to rubber gloves

How is cork produced?

Cork comes from a tree called the cork oak. The cork is the thick, spongy bark. It is stripped away from the lower trunk, then left to grow upto ten years before the next harvest. Cork is used to make many things, from bottle corks and bulletin board to floor tiles.

What is kapok?

Kapok is similar to cotton, It comes from the kapok tree, which is cultivated in Asia and can be as tall as 160 feet. The fluffy seed fibres are used to stuff mattresses, jackets, quilts, and sleeping bags.

How is cotton turned into cloth?

Cotton is a soft fibre that grows naturally around the seeds of the cotton plant, forming "bolls". These are "ginned" to remove the seeds; spun, or twisted, into thread; and then woven to make a cloth.

What is rubber?

Rubber is sap of some plants, particularly the para rubber tree. The trees are pierced, or trapped, and the sap drips slowly into the waiting container.

What wood makes the best cricket bat?

The best cricket bats are made in India, from the willow, a white willow. The blade (the part of ball strikes) is made from, and the handle from different wood or cane.

Can plants produce fuel to run cars?

The copaiba tree of Amazon rain forest yield an oil similar to diesel fuel that can be used to run engines. Oilseed rape, soybean, and the petroleum nut tree of southeast Asia can also used to produce biofuels, or plant fuels. As crude oil reserves are used up, biofuels may become important.

Materials

Why are saucepans made of metal?

Saucepans are made of metal because most metals heat up quickly. Metal atoms vibrate easily when heated, rapidly passing on the vibrations of atom around them. This makes metals good conducted (carriers) of heat. Most metals, such as iron, are strong, shiny, hard solids, but metals all have different properties. Aluminium, for example, is light and easily molded.

How is glass made?

Glass is made by heating together sand, ash, and stone in a hot furnace. The molten (liquid) glass is then rolled into sheets, put in a mould, or blown into shapes. It hardens to a transparent solid when it cools. Glass is waterproof and reflects light or let light through it. It is used to make windows and jars, and also lenses and mirrors.

What are plastics?

Plastics are artificial materials made by heating chemicals found in petroleum (oil). Plastics have many useful properties. They can be be molded into different shapes, they do not break easily when dropped, and they are light and waterproof. There are many different types of plastic. For example, Plexiglass is a tough, tranperant plastic and polystyrene is a kind of foam used for insulation (to trap heat).

When is plastic a problem?

Plastic is a problem because it does not biodegrade, or break down, as food, paper, or wood do. This means plastic piles up in large holes in the ground or floats around oceans, washing up on beaches. Scientists are developing plastics that break down but can still protect and store goods.

Mountain and valley

How do mountains form?

Some mountains form from volcanoes. Dome mountains occur where magma near the earth's surface forms a rounded bulge of rock but does not erupt to become a volcano. Fold mountains form when two colliding plates cause the earth's crust to buckle and fold, making mountain ranges. Block mountains form when fractures in the earth's crust push a block upward.

Do mountains continue to grow?

Yes, some mountains continue to get taller after they first form! For example the Himalayas are growing up 2 inches every year. The Himalayas were formed 50 millions year ago when two of the mountain plates collided. As the plates continue to push each other the mountains are gradually getting higher-and they are getting even higher to climb!

What is a glacier?

A glacier is a huge river of ice. A buildup of snow and ice in a very cold, high mountain areas causes the river of ice downhill. Most glaciers flow so slowly you can not tell they are moving. As glaciers move, they carry rocks along with them that help gouge out valleys, or deep grooves, into the land through which they pass.

Where is the tallest mountain?

The tallest mountain is Mauna Kea on Hawaii. It measures 33,375 feet from base to peak, but most of it is underwater. Only 13,795 feet of it are above sea level. On land, Mountain Everest is the highest mountain, reaching 29,035 feet above sea level. Also on Hawaii is Mauna Loa, the world's biggest 🌋 Volcano.

Light and Dark

Where does light came from?

The Earth's biggest source of light is Sun. Heat and light energy by sun created by the sun travels through space in straight lines called rays at almost 187,000 miles per second. The Earth's spins around once a day, changing which part of globe gets sunlight. This creates day and night. Other things that radiate, or give off, light include electric lightbulbs, candles, and television sets.

What are shadows?

Shadows happen in places where an object

Stops light from getting through. Materials that light shines through fully are called transparent. Translucent materials only let a little light through. Opaque material don't let any light through at all. The shape of the shadow depends on the object blocking the light. If an object is moved closer to a light source, it's shadow gets bigger because it blocks more light rays.

Why do mirror reflect images?

All surfaces reflect light but if they are bumpy, the light rays are reflected in all directions. Mirrors are made from very smooth surfaces that reflect the rays back in the same pattern as they hit it, creating a clear image of any object. Words reflected in a mirror appear back to front, as if they were facing away from us and we were looking through the page.

How do periscopes work?

Periscopes are devices that use reflecting mirrors in order to see things from a lower level. An Angled mirror reflects an image, made up of light, down a tube. A second mirror at the bottom of the tube reflects the light again to turn the image back the right way up. Periscopes are often used to see surface ships from underwater submarines, or to see over people's heads in crowds.