Minerals’ Role in Sustainable Energy Sources

Activity Source: The Mineralogical Society of America

 

Grade Levels: 6-12

Background

Certain minerals are called “Critical Materials for Energy” because they play essential roles in sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind, and in energy-storage devices, like batteries. But, how exactly do minerals help convert and store energy from the Sun and wind? Where do these minerals come from, and what is their path from the source to the final product? In this activity, you and the other members of your team will specialize in finding answers to these questions for a specific mineral used in energy-related technologies.

Materials

  • Computer with internet access

Procedure

  1. Read through an infographic from the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) to find out what minerals make some forms of renewable energy possible.
  2. Your job, and the job of the rest of your team, is to choose one of those minerals in which to specialize. (Coordinate with other teams in your class, so that you aren’t all working on the same mineral!)
  3. Using reliable print or online resources, (such as those from scientific agencies, colleges and universities, state geological surveys, or science museums), find out the following information about your mineral:
    • Its properties
    • Where it comes from
    • How it is extracted
    • How it is processed
    • Its role in energy technologies (solar, wind, or batteries)
    • Why it is or is not considered a “critical mineral”
  4. Create a poster or presentation with what you have discovered. Be sure to include images (drawings or open-source images) showing as much about the mineral as you can.
  5. Coordinate with the other teams in your class to present a comprehensive picture of the role of your minerals in sustainable energy sources.

Analysis

  1. Look over each team’s poster or watch them present on their mineral. Discuss all of the minerals researched with your team to write an argument for which mineral you think is most important for energy-related technologies.
  2. Learn more about how minerals are categorized as critical by the Secretary of the Interior and the USGS.
    • Summarize how materials and minerals are identified as “critical”.
    • How do the short-term and medium￾term graphs of critical minerals differ? Why do you think this is?

NGSS Connections

  • SEP: Asking Questions and Defining Problems
  • DCI: ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems
  • CCC: Energy and Matter

SDG Connections