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Resources

Utah FORGE is a Department of Energy-funded geothermal research project dedicated to advancing enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technologies and committed to increasing overall geothermal understanding.

Lesson Plans

Dedicated to informing and educating of teachers, students, and the public about geothermal energy, we have partnered with our colleagues at the University of Utah College of Education to create a curriculum that can be used in K-12 classrooms. The following lessons plans and student handouts were developed by Tamara Young.

Utah SEEd Standard ESS.4.3, Next Generation Science Standard: HS-ESS3-2

Utah SEEd Standard ESS.4.3, Next Generation Science Standard: HS-ESS3-2

Lesson Plan: Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.

Utah SEEd Standard PHYS.2.4, Next Generation Science Standard: HS-PS3-3

Lesson Plan: Transfer of thermal energy

Utah SEEd Standard PHYS.2.2, Next Generation Science Standard: HS-PS3-4

Lesson Plan: Design a method to change the rate of heat transfer

Utah SEEd Standard 6.2.4,
Next Generation Science Standard: MS-PS3-3

Explaining the uneven distribution of the earth's natural resources

Utah SEEd Standard 8.4.1,
Next Generation Science Standard: MS-ESS3-1

Learning Modules

The University of Utah’s Department of Chemical Engineering has developed various hands-on learning modules that can be easily replicated in the classroom. Designed and created by Dr. Tony Butterfield and his outreach team, the modules display key scientific principles behind the Utah FORGE project. These hands-on teaching modules help explain scientific concepts and include detailed instructions for K-12 educators, along with curricular ties, and assessment tools.

STEM Fest demonstration of thermoelectric human power.

Thermoelectric Human Power

The temperature difference between human hands and cold water or ice is used to create electricity and demonstrate the use of a temperature difference to extract usable energy.  View Module

Turbine Electric Generator

As a turbine is made to spin, be it from flowing steam in a coal or geothermal power plant, or from wind turning a wind turbine, it generates electricity for our homes and businesses. In this module, you will use the power of your lungs to turn a turbine and create electricity.  View Module

And More!

Browse a collection of teaching modules tailored for both undergraduate and K12 STEM education, created by the Chemical Engineering Lab

Other Resources

Animations

Geoscience Webinars

The geoscience of Utah FORGE sets the geological scene to DOE’s flagship geothermal field laboratory that has been established to make significant advances in EGS technologies. The webinars cover the basin architecture, rock types, fault/fracture patterns, thermal structure, fluid flow, geochemistry, and the datasets and resources that are available from the Utah FORGE website.

Geothermal Glossary

District heating - A scheme for distributing centrally produced thermal energy via a network of pipes to heat residential and commercial buildings. Such schemes are energy efficient and ideally suited for utilizing geothermal resources.
PDC Bit - A drill bit used for drilling rock in oil, gas and geothermal wells. PDC stands for polycrystalline diamond compacts, which are inserted as cutters in substitute of hardened metal teeth typical of roller cone bits.
Steam-heated Water: A shallow formed water resulting from condensation of steam into groundwater accompanied by absorption of carbon dioxide to form a bicarbonate water or by absorption of H2S that oxidizes to sulfate to produce an acid-sulfate water.
Heat Exchanger: A system by which heat is transferred from one media (solid or fluid) to another with applications in heating and cooling. They are used in geothermal binary power plants and cooling towers.
Chlorite: A micaceous mineral that is commonly green-colored, composed of iron and/or magnesium, and forms due to hydrothermal alteration of amphiboles, pyroxenes, and feldspars.
Breccia: Angular to sub-angular fragments of broken rock that are cemented together that are highly permeable and form on the surface due to sedimentary or igneous processes or in fault zones.
Hydrothermal Eruption: Rare explosive discharge of hot water and steam that is powerful enough to excavate a crater and lift rock fragments and its pulverized equivalents into the air to produce an apron deposit around the eruption vent.
Geochemical Tracer: An environmentally benign chemical that is injected to trace fluid movement through the geothermal reservoir and that can be easily detected in produced hot fluid.
Stable Isotopes: Refers to non-radioactive isotopes of elements, including those of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. In geothermal geochemistry, the stable isotope ratios of oxygen (18O/16O) and hydrogen (2H/1H) in thermal waters are used to trace its origin (e.g., meteoric, magmatic).
Tephra: Airborne particles of rock and ash produced by an explosive volcanic eruption. Tephra commonly deposits as a blanket that drapes over the underlying topography.
Lava Flow: A product of an erupting volcanic cone or fissure made up of liquid molten rock that flows downhill and eventually solidifies due to cooling.
Transcurrent Fault (Strike-Slip Fault): Vertically dipping fault that results from horizontal shear stress. Slip movement during an earthquake is sideways rather than up or down.
Normal Fault: High angle fault that results from extensional stress and forms a steeply dipping planar structure. Slip movement during an earthquake is vertical and down dip. The down-dropped block is called the hanging wall and the uplifted block is called the footwall.
View All Terms