Energy

People need energy to move, to think and to learn new things. In fact, for everything they do. The energy that people need, they get from the food they eat. Have you ever wondered where the energy we need for cooking comes from? Or for charging a mobile phone or for the lamps at home. Nowadays energy is easily available and therefore we can use a variety of electric devices.

Back in the day things were different. Food was cooked on fire, which also took care of the heating at home. It even provided lighting. In the archipelago this could cause some trouble for the inhabitants because trees were a limited resource on many of the islands. Firewood had to be bought from other islands with more forest and occasional driftwood collected from the shores.

Nowadays energy is produced in many different ways and there are both renewable and non-renewable sources of energy. A non-renewable source of energy can’t be used repeatedly. Once it’s used it disappears for good or renews extremely slowly. Examples of such sources of energy are oil and coal, which have been formed under high pressure in the Earth’s crust. Renewable sources of energy, on the other hand, can’t be depleted, like streaming water or blowing wind.

Wasting energy should be avoided, because we should spare our natural resources. Everyone can save energy with small efforts, like turning off the lights when they are not needed or remembering to close the refrigerator door.

Assignment:

On some very sunny day you can try to make your own solar collector. The method is old and common in countries where fuel is scarce. Cover a big salad bowl or cardboard box with aluminium foil. Place this “oven” so that it faces directly to the sun. On the bottom of the oven you can put for example a mug of cold hot chocolate or a small bowl of water. What do you think will happen? How do different surfaces feel like when the sun shines on them? If possible, measure the temperature of your chosen liquid when you put it in the oven and again a little later. If you wish to, you can repeat the experiment in a shady place, or build a second oven that you can place in the shade for comparison.

Did you know, that in the archipelago, engravings on rock are often found in such places, where people had to wait for long times, such as natural harbours, where a more favourable wind was waited for?

How many grazing animals can you find?