Mike Fossum

St. Dominic School

Grade 5
4/25/16
Hydropower
Have you ever wondered where your energy comes from? Well in 2014 hydropower
produced 48% of the earth's electricity. I believe that hydropower is a good source of energy
because it is a renewable resource. It is clean and it does not pollute the environment. It does not
make greenhouse gasses or radioactive waste and it does not change the climate.
There are four steps on how to make a hydropower plant. First you need flowing water
such as a dam. Then you need a generator and a turbine. Thirdly the turbine turns kinetic energy
into mechanical energy. Finally the generator turns mechanical energy into electricity, which is
then fed into the electrical grid. An electrical grid transports electricity to be used in homes.
The advantage of hydropower is it does not pollute the environment or make green house
gasses. Hydropower is run by water not fossil fuels. It can allow each state to have their own
energy source without having to transport fossil fuels across the U.S. In addition hydropower
does not hurt aqua life. Lastly it helps prevent global warming.
Although there are lots of good things about hydropower, there are bad things too.
Hydropower costs a lot of money the higher the cost the longer it's going to take to complete
the dam. While they are building it they block the dams, hydropower can flood over into the
environment while they are building it. There can be really big droughts for a long time. And
while you are building the dam the dam can burst or rupture.
Even though hydropower can hurt the environment it can help save it to. Hydropower can
stop the process of burning coal and gas, and also it does not produce global warming or hurt
aqua life. Hydropower can save the world you just gotta switch to it.

Sources:
Benefits of Hydropower. energy.gov/eere/water/Benefits-Hydropower. March 3, 2016.
Facts About Hydropower. www.wvic.com/Content/Fact_About_Hydropower.cfm.
March 1, 2016.
How Hydropower works. www.wvic.com/Content/how_Hydropower_works.cfm.
March 1, 2016.

Savannah Buxcel
St. Dominic School
Grade 5
4/25/16
Hydropower
Hello humans, energy consumers. Do you ever wonder where our energy comes from? If
you keep reading, you just might find out.

There is a graph above that will show you renewable energy sources. Now the one special
energy source that Ill be telling you about is Hydropower (water energy).
Hydropower creates energy at power plants by capturing energy from the water.
Hydropower plants can be found all over but all are found on flowing water. That energy is
made into electricity. There are 3 parts to it, the plant, dam and reservoir. The water flows
through the dam making the blades turn the turbine spins a generator to make electricity. Finally
the electricity flows through power lines to transport to your home.
Hydropower is very inexpensive and safe. It actually cost about 0.7 cents per kilowatt
hour. Not a lot of people use hydropower, but I think that you should use it if you have a dam but
if you don't you can notify your government. If everyone in the world used hydropower, the

world would most likely be more efficient in the way they use energy and save a lot of money.
And therefore I think you should use hydropower.
It is killing a lot of fish because by taking out too much water and by the oxygen level.
The Dams block very big and special routs. By the current of the water and it runs to fast it can
ruins the water animals homes. The destruction of the forest produces more methane. The dams
will reduce sediment and the temp of the water will reduce to.
I support the use of hydropower to produce electricity. Hydropower is efficient. It is the
least costly of all renewable resources, and the largest renewable resource that creates electricity.
So remember that you should try using renewable resources instead of nonrenewable.
Sources:
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/hydropower-profile/
http://www.ducksters.com/science/environment/hydropower.php

Sydney Schertzer
St. Dominic School
Grade 5
4/25/16
Hydropower
Hydropower uses flowing and falling water to make energy. Energy can be used to do
work. Hydropower is usually used to generate electric energy.
I think the U.S. should use Hydropower because its safe, renewable and reliable.
How does it make the water into energy? The water is first stored behind a dam. Then the stored
water is sent through a pipe to a turbine. A turbine looks like a big fan with blades. The water
hits the turbines blade, and the spinning of the turbine turns the shaft and the shaft turns the
generator. The generator converts the energy in the water into electric energy. The generator is
connected to the power lines, the lines brings the energy into your home.
Hydropower is a clean way to make energy, but why? It is safe, flexible, reliable,
renewable and green. Hydropower is reliable, because the turbine and generator are simple to
operate and maintain. It also safe, because it does not pollute. Heres an interesting thing about
Hydropower it is flexible which means it can be changed rapidly to meet its customers needs.
Hydropower is green too which means is renewable. One last thing Hydropower is renewable
which means the water can be replaced by rain without running out.
Hydropower has a lot of pros, but there are also cons. Hydropower dams are expensive to
build. There are a lot of pricey materials used to build the dam. Although this is true, when they
are built theyre easy to maintain. There is one more con to hydropower, it can flood land. But
the lakes behind the dams can be used for fishing and swimming.

In my opinion I do think the U.S. should use more Hydropower dams. This type of
energy source has a lot of positive things about it. They are renewable, green, flexible, safe and
reliable.
Sources:
Davor Habjanec. http://interestingenergyfacts.blogspot.com/2008/03/hydropower-facts.html
Mathias Aarre Maehlum. http://energyinformative.org/hydroelectric-energy-pros-and-cons/
Last updated February 21, 2014
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/hydropower-profile/