Hydraulic Fracturing – Starter Pack

Summary

Hydraulic Fracturing Starter Pack: Vocabulary, Quiz, and Core Concepts

This starter pack gives students the background knowledge they need before moving into deeper work on hydraulic fracturing. It includes vocabulary, a quiz, and guided concept review focused on fracking, natural gas, unconventional oil and gas, emissions, methane leakage, contamination, and regulation.

The materials help students build a strong working understanding of how hydraulic fracturing fits into energy systems and why it remains controversial. This makes the starter pack especially useful for teachers searching for hydraulic fracturing vocabulary worksheets, fracking quiz activities, or environmental science lesson plans for high school that need a strong front-end scaffold.

Because the content is concise and classroom-ready, it works well as a pre-lab activity, homework assignment, sub plan component, or station rotation resource.

Extend the Lesson:
Pair this Starter Pack with the Computation and Data Set activities, then move students into the full debate-based lesson for more advanced reasoning.

Bell Ringer

Instructions: Answer the prompt provided by your teacher.










Vocabulary

Instructions: Watch the Hydraulic Fracturing video and listen for the vocabulary words.

WordDefinitionExample
Frackingnoun; shorthand for hydraulic fracturing (commonly referred to in industry as fracing), a drilling completion process that brings saltwater, natural gas, oil and other substances to the surface“Fracking has opened up huge new supplies of natural gas in the U.S.”
Natural Gasnoun; a fossil fuel made mostly of methane, found underground, and used to generate electricity, heat buildings, and power some vehicles“Fracking has opened up huge new supplies of natural gas in the U.S.”
Economicadjective; related to money, jobs, or trade“The most apparent benefits are economic.”
Unconventional oil and gasnoun phrase; resources like shale gas or tight oil that require special methods, like hydraulic fracturing, to extract“Studies show that unconventional oil and gas have created more than one million jobs . . .”
Industrialadjective; related to factories, manufacturing, or large-scale production“The impacts of bringing an industrial process into rural areas are very real.”
Emissionsnoun; pollutants or gases released into the air“ . . . the emissions of burning natural gas . . . are just CO2 and water vapor.”
Shale gasnoun phrase; natural gas trapped within impermeable shale rock formations, often extracted through hydraulic fracturing“But there are shale gas resources all over the world and fracking may release new supplies in these areas too . . .”
Contaminationnoun; the presence of something harmful or unwanted in a substance“Then there’s the risk of water contamination.”
Additivesnoun; substances added to a mixture to improve or change how it works“One half to one percent [of hydraulic fracturing fluids] are additives . . .”
Greenhouse gasnoun; a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation“Methane is a greenhouse gas considerably more potent than CO2.”
Potentadjective; strong or powerful in effect“Methane is a greenhouse gas considerably more potent than CO2.”
Infrastructurenoun; basic systems like roads, pipelines or power lines that support a community or industry“ . . . the new wells and new pipeline infrastructure need to leak less than in the past.”
Regulationsnoun; official rules or laws that mandate how things must be done“We need to . . . make and enforce regulations intended to minimize the risks and maximize the benefits.”

Quiz

Instructions: Circle the correct answer based on what you learned in the Hydraulic Fracturing video.

Q1. What is one major economic benefit of hydraulic fracturing in the U.S.?

  1. decrease in oil exports
  2. creation of over one million jobs
  3. increased coal mining jobs
  4. reduction in renewable energy use

Q2. At the time of filming, how did the price of natural gas in the U.S. change due to high supply from hydraulic fracturing?

  1. increased from $3 to $9
  2. remained steady at $9
  3. dropped from $9 to as low as $3
  4. increased to over $100

Q3. Which transportation methods are increasingly using natural gas?

  1. electric cars and motorcycles
  2. buses, delivery fleets, and taxis
  3. airplanes and ships
  4. bicycles and scooters

Q4. Compared to coal, burning natural gas produces

  1. more SOx and NOx emissions
  2. almost no SOx, NOx, ash, or mercury
  3. twice the amount of CO2
  4. more ash and mercury

Q5. What factor has contributed most to the more than 10% decline in U.S. carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions since 2005?

  1. increased use of coal
  2. shifting manufacturing overseas and replacing coal with natural gas
  3. increased water use in agriculture
  4. higher oil prices

Q6. What is the primary purpose of hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking)? 

  1. pumping oil and gas to the surface without breaking rock
  2. pumping water, sand, and chemicals down a well to break rock and release oil and gas
  3. reducing truck traffic in rural areas
  4. cleaning contaminated water

Q7. What is a typical environmental concern related to hydraulic fracturing water use? 

  1. Hydraulic fracturing uses little to no water.
  2. Water used for hydraulic fracturing mostly evaporates and is lost completely.
  3. Millions of gallons of water are used per well, potentially impacting freshwater supplies.
  4. Hydraulic fracturing water is entirely recycled and causes no environmental impact.

Q8. Which of the following is true about methane leaks related to hydraulic fracturing?

  1. Methane is never found in water wells near hydraulic fracturing sites.
  2. Methane leaks from hydraulic fracturing wells are always more than conventional wells.
  3. Some studies show leaks are higher, others show similar levels to conventional wells.
  4. Methane is not a greenhouse gas.

Q9. Why is methane leakage a critical concern despite the benefits of hydraulic fracturing?

  1. Methane is less potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
  2. Methane leaks can cancel out the CO2 emissions reductions from natural gas use.
  3. Methane leaks improve air quality.
  4. Methane leaks have no environmental impact.