Mining the Data: Supply and Demand for Critical Minerals Activity Source: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Grade level: 8-12 Introduction Critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel are the building blocks of the batteries and technologies driving the clean energy transition, but their supply may not keep pace with surging global demand. As renewable energy expands, geoscientists and policymakers are racing to understand where these minerals will come from, how much is available, and what shortfalls might mean for energy future. [Read More]

Model of a Well Activity Source: Nebraska Earth Systems Education Network, School of Natural Resources, by Marianne Bonnemier Background Groundwater is contained in the zone of saturation below the land surface. The top of this zone is known as the water table. People can tap into this source of water by drilling wells. The depth of the well and level of the water table greatly influences the wells productivity. Objective Demonstrate the relationship of groundwater to wells. [Read More]

Modeling an Oil Reserve Activity Source: Adapted with permission by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists from AGI’s Earth System Science in the Community (EarthComm), 2005. Background Since 1970, oil and natural gas have provided more than half of the energy used each year in the United States to produce electricity, heat, transportation fuels, and many everyday products from balloons to vitamins. Oil and natural gas are forms of petroleum, a word that literally means “oily rock. [Read More]

Modeling Oil and Gas Reservoirs Activity Source: Adapted with permission by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists from AGI’s EarthComm, Earth’s Natural Resources, pp. R65-R66. This activity will help you to understand some of the factors that petroleum geologists need to consider when deciding where to recommend drilling for oil. Since people use petroleum products for energy and as source materials for petrochemicals, it is important as citizen scientists to understand the science and technology behind the search for oil and natural gas. [Read More]

Nitrogen Connection Activity Source: Adapted with permission by Soil Science Society of America. All biological organisms require certain nutrients to live. Plants require carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from air and water, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, nickel, chloride, boron, and molybdenum from soil. Animals require a few others. Conversions and transformations of nutrients in the environment result from chemical reactions, biological activity, or both. [Read More]

Oil Behavior on Beach Sediment Activity Source: NOAA Grade levels: 4-9 Introduction Beaches are made up of sediments, which can range from fine-grained clay and mud, to coarse-grained sand or gravel. In this activity, you will explore how lighter and heavier oils behave differently when spilled onto fine-grained, medium-grained, and coarse-grained sediment. When NOAA responds to an oil spill, the differences in how oil behaves on various sediments are important. These differences affect our predictions of what the oil will do if it reaches the beach: Is it likely to remain on the beach surface? [Read More]

Particle Size and Oil Production Activity Source: Adapted by AAPG from EarthComm and the American Geosciences Institute. Adapted with permission. What factors affect how easily a fluid can move through sediments? How is this flow rate connected to oil production? Many people think that oil lies in big pools below Earth’s surface. Oil actually is located in the pores within rocks (called “source rocks”). When the pores are connected, oil can flow slowly through the rock. [Read More]

Places on the Planet: Latitude and Longitude Activity Source: Geological Society of America, 2006. Adapted with permission. Background You may have seen or used Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in cars or on camping trips. These devices use data from satellites orbiting the Earth to locate places on our planet. GPS devices describe the locations to us in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates. Citizen scientists involved in the Geological Society of America’s EarthCaching project (http://www. [Read More]

Power Up with Critical Minerals Activity Source: U.S. Geological Survey Grade Level: 6-12 Materials Computer with internet access (4) Large sheets of poster paper Tape or glue Sticky notes, two colors Pencil/pen Markers Printed copies of the Suplemental Resources file: (1) battery type diagram per group: alkaline battery lithium-ion battery nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery lead-acid battery (1) U.S. Map per group (1) Systems-Deposits-Commodities Table per group Procedure Identifying Critical Minerals in Batteries [Read More]

Products Made from Petroleum Activity Source: Adapted with permission by Bruce Wells, American Oil & Gas Historical Society. Background Most people associate petroleum with transportation — but we are surrounded by thousands of other everyday products that come from this vital natural resource. A typical 42- gallon barrel of crude oil yields about 20 gallons of gasoline and 4 gallons of jet fuel. What products come from the other 18 gallons? [Read More]