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Introduction to Hydropower – Starter Pack

Summary

This starter pack provides a complete hydropower quiz and vocabulary resource to reinforce key terms from the video. Students will learn essential vocabulary such as gravity, turbine, base-load power, and environmental impacts. The quiz and cloze notes then assess student understanding of the core concepts, including how hydropower is generated and the reasons why its future potential is limited.

Bell Ringer

Instructions: Answer the prompt provided by your teacher.










Vocabulary

Instructions: Watch the Introduction to Hydropower video and listen for the vocabulary words.

WordDefinitionExample
Idealadjective; the best possible or just right for a certain purpose“Hydro is the ideal electricity resource and that’s why we’ve developed pretty much all of it.”
Gravitynoun; the invisible force that pulls all objects toward one another“Weather moves water uphill, and gravity brings it down through the turbines.”
Damnoun; a large structure built across a river to hold back water“The biggest power plants in the world are dams . . .”
Turbinenoun; a machine that spins when water, air or steam flows through it to generate electricity“[Dams] can spin up the turbines almost instantly whenever we need the power.”
Base-load powernoun phrase; the minimum amount of electricity a city or country needs continuously“Hydro can be always on base-load power, or it can follow electricity demand by the minute . . .”
Agriculturenoun; the practice of growing plants and raising animals for food, clothing and other things we need“As population and development increase, so do water demands for other things, like agriculture.”
Emissionsnoun; pollutants released into the air, usually from burning fuel“Hydro . . . can follow electricity demand by the minute, all with zero emissions.”
Limitedadjective; only a certain amount available“The places to build hydropower are limited.”
Environmentaladjective; related to nature and the world around us, like the air, water, land, animals and plants“. . . damming a river has environmental, social, and economic impacts that not everyone is ready to bear.”
Socialadjective; related to people, communities, and the way they live and interact with each other“. . . damming a river has environmental, social, and economic impacts that not everyone is ready to bear.”
Economicnoun phrase; related to money, jobs, businesses, and how people earn and spend“. . . damming a river has environmental, social, and economic impacts that not everyone is ready to bear.”
Impactnoun; the effect or change something has on a person, place or thing“. . . damming a river has environmental, social, and economic impacts that not everyone is ready to bear.”

Quiz & Cloze Notes

Instructions: Circle the correct answer based on what you learned in the Introduction to Hydropower video, then fill in the blanks using the word bank.

Q1. Most hydroelectric power is produced using which of the following sources?

  1. waterwheels
  2. run-of-the-river systems
  3. tidal energy
  4. dams

Q2. Which of the following statements about hydroelectric power is true?

  1. As energy demands increase, hydroelectricity will play a larger role in the total energy mix.
  2. Most of the developed world has used up the supply of hydroelectric sites.
  3. Dams will provide an unlimited amount of water to provide hydroelectric power.
  4. The operation of hydroelectric power plants is expensive.

Q3. Which of the following could limit the future development of hydroelectric power?

  1. cheap electricity from coal in the developing world
  2. the abundance of natural gas for power generation
  3. environmental concerns about the land flooded by dams
  4. lack of additional hydroelectric opportunities in the developed world

Q4. Which of the following is an important benefit of hydropower? 

  1. Dams do not hurt the environment.
  2. It will be a shrinking portion of the overall energy use.
  3. It can be used for baseload or on-demand power.
  4. There are many sites remaining to build dams.

Word Bank

cheapdevelopedelectricityexpensive
gravitylimitedturbinesused

Hydropower uses _________________________ to move water through _________________________ to generate _________________________. While hydropower plants are _________________________ to build, they are _________________________ to operate and can last up to 100 years. Most good sites for hydropower in the _________________________ world have already been _________________________, so hydropower’s future potential is _________________________.

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