Making Fuel from Algae
FEMMES Workshop Plan
The algae that you may have seen in ponds, lakes, and the ocean could be a source of renewable fuel
for a truck or a jet. How can people grow large amounts of algae to make fuel? In this activity, we will
discuss what algae need to grow and what products are made from algae, including biofuels. We will
learn about the challenges and costs involved in growing algae to make these products. Girls will
become managers of their own algae companies and will try to make a profit from this renewable
energy source. They will make decisions about which algae species to grow, which growth systems to
use, and which resources to buy to maximize the amount of algae they grow under different scenarios.
The uncertainties and challenges they will face while managing their algae are the same problems that
researchers are currently trying to solve.
FEMMES Logistics
 4 45 min workshop sessions at 10:00, 11:00, 1:00 and 2:00
 ~15 girls per session
 Age level 4th – 6th grade
Activity Developer
Sarah Loftus, PhD student at the Duke Marine Lab. Contact with questions/comments about activity at
sarah.loftus@duke.edu.
Materials for display (things for girls to explore while arriving to activity)
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Tri-fold board decorated with images and trivia questions
o Image suggestions (most can be found with Google images) : microscope images of
algae; photos of open ponds and photobioreactors; algae biofuel process flow diagram;
photosynthesis equation; photos of lab research with algae; figures showing resulys
from scientific papers
o Examples of trivia questions: What percentage of the oxygen that you breathe is
produced by phytoplankton (microscopic algae)? What are autotrophs? What abiotic
factors affect algae growth? What biotic factors affect algae growth? How small is an
algae cell? What organisms eat algae? What are the benefits of using algae to make
biofuels? What part of an algae cell is used to make biodiesel? What does it mean if an
energy source is renewable?
Algae cultures (liquid and/or plates) of different kinds of algae (at least including green algae
and non-green algae so that girls can discover the visible differences between different kinds of
algae)
o Glass bottles, test tubes, magnetic stir plates
Materials for activity
(All print-outs for second activity can be found in separate document)
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Flashcards with algae growth requirements and non-requirements written/drawn on them (5
cards per girl = ~75 cards)
o sunlight, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and water for requirements (make plenty of
sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide cards since these are the least limiting)
o also soil, music, vegetables, clothing, shelter, love (and anything else you can think of!)
for things algae do not need to grow
o Jar or hat for girls to pick cards from
Print-outs of maps, decision sheets, reactor photos, etc for activity (enough for each group)
Optional: paper money ($1000 per group + extras to hand out to girls for answering questions)
Pencils
Small stickers (to place on map)
Jar or hat with “potential scenarios” written on paper in it (Activity 2)
Optional (if girls want to play with algae cultures) :
o Gloves
o Small, clear plastic cups or any small, open containers (to represent open reactors)
o Test tubes or any clear closed containers (to represent closed reactors)
o Paper towels, in case of spill
Day of Activity
Set-up
Set up 4 stations with writing utensils.
Have ready for each station:
 Print-out of packet for second activity
 Stickers
 Optional: play money (printed out and cut) – $1000 each group
 Flashcards of growth requirements
While girls are arriving
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Encourage them to observe the algae that are set up in labeled cultures, and the tri-fold board
set up with photos and trivia questions
Introduction (7 min)
Some of the goals of FEMMES are to provide girls with female role models in STEM fields and foster
interest in STEM. So, take time at the beginning of the activity to introduce yourself and what you do,
and how you became interested in it.
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Introduce myself. Explain what a graduate student is, what I do, and what I would like to do
after I graduate. Explain how I became interested in this field and my path to graduate school.
Introduce activity topic
Begin by asking questions. If not many answer, offer play money to anyone who attempts an answer,
and say the money will come in handy in an activity later. Below are some suggestions for questions
and answers.
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What are algae?
o Photosynthetic autotrophs (explain)
o Broadly includes large plants like seaweeds and kelp to small, microscopic
phytoplankton
o Many different kinds of algae that live in different habitats
o Phytoplankton in the ocean provide half of the oxygen in the atmosphere that we
breathe
o I work with microscopic algae, called microalgae
o Some microalgae can move with flagella, others move by sinking
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What are fossil fuels?
o Fossil fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas
o These were produced over millions of years from plants buried underground that
experienced intense heat, pressure, and a lack of oxygen
o These fuels are nonrenewable because we use them at a much faster rate than they can
be replenished by natural processes
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What are some environmental impacts that fossil fuels have on the planet?
o The extraction of fossil fuels by mining, fracking, and drilling can disrupt ecosystems
o Fossil fuels emit greenhouse gases when burned that lead to global climate change
o An increase in carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere can lead to ocean
acidification
o See what other answers the girls come up with
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What are renewable fuels? What are they made from?
o Renewable energy can be produced over and over again because it depends on factors
such as sunlight, water movement, and plant growth.
o Renewable energy does not emit as many greenhouse gases as fossil fuels and can have
less of a harmful impact on ecosystems than fossil fuels do.
o Electricity can be generated from sunlight, wind, water movement over dams or the
tides
o Biofuels can be made from plants like corn, soybeans, sugar cane, grasses
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Can algae be a source to make biofuels? How?
o Although algae biofuel is not available yet for commercial sale, many companies are
researching how to make large quantities of algae biofuels that can compete with other
fuels.
o The lipids or fats in algae can be used to make biodiesel, using a similar process that
converts used cooking oils into biodiesel.
o Other parts of the algae can be made into other kinds of biofuels as well, such as
carbohydrates to make ethanol.
o Leftover parts of the algae can be used to make products like animal and fish feed
o Algae are also grown to make nutrient supplements for humans, because this is more
profitable than biofuels
Activity 1: What do algae need to grow? (8 min)
Girls sit in groups.
Hand out 8 growth requirement flashcards/photos to each girl.
Tell girls to think about what algae absolutely need to grow and survive. Their goal is to help each
member of their group survive by making sure each member has the right resources. They can trade
cards with their group members until they think that each girl has all the requirements. Do not say how
many cards they each need, they should discuss with group.
Walk around and help girls if they have questions. Each girl should have a carbon dioxide, sunlight,
water, and nutrients card. It’s okay if they have extras or ones that they do not need to grow. It might
be that not all girls in a group can survive based on what cards were passed out.
If girls finish quickly (too easy), ask them to list all the things they think would make algae grow faster
or slower (how temperature, pH, light intensity, predators, mutualistic species, salinity affects growth)
After they finish, ask girls to share their growth requirements and describe why they chose those
things. Why do they need each of the 4 requirements? Review photosynthesis quickly and explain that
algae are photoautotrophs – they use light for energy, and can make their own food from inorganic
substances like carbon dioxide. Did everyone in their group survive? Sometimes there are not enough
resources, such as nutrients, to support all algae.
Activity 2: Managing your own algae company (30 min)
Hand out to each group:
 Decision sheet with cost calculations and company name
 U.S. map figure
 Reactor photos with descriptions
 Algae species list
 Stickers
Explain that they are now managers of their own algae farms and they need to make a profit on their
renewable energy source so they can keep making it. Can they make renewable energy if they are
losing money? No, so they need to figure out how to make renewable energy profitably.
Have girls think of a company name and write it on their sheet- get creative!
Optional: hand out play money to each group, total of $1000 in $100s.
Explain that they should use the pictures, map, and information to decide what things to invest in. For
students who need more structure it will work best to give them one sheet of information at a time,
moving from question 1 to question 4. They should try to maximize their algae productivity. Explain
that they have a budget of $1000 to invest, and afterwards they will face different scenarios that will
determine if they make a profit. They can use a sticker to mark on the map where they would like to
build their algae farm.
Walk around the room and help girls process the information by asking questions to help them
understand the pros and cons of each option. They can invest in more than one option for each
question if they have enough money.
Optional: once they have decided, have the girls pay you for their options.
On the white/chalk board, create a table with the decisions/options as the columns (Where, Water
Source, Reactor Type, Algae Type, Money Invested) and the groups as the rows. Ask girls to write in
their company names and write down what options they chose.
Optional: After they write down their options, give them a plastic cup if they chose open reactor, a test
tube if they chose closed, or both if they chose both. Have them pour in the kind of algae they chose.
Explain that some options may be better in certain scenarios. Describe a few scenarios and ask the girls
whose company would make a profit in each scenario based on which options they chose. Scenarios of
different situations are put into a jar. Go around the room having a girl pick a scenario out of a hat.
Scenarios
1. Intense drought = lots of evaporation; companies who chose open ponds and freshwater algae do not
do well
2. Precipitation = open ponds do not do well
3. Intense heat = photobioreactors do not do as well because need to cool them off
4. Dust storm - zooplankton and pathogens in air = open ponds do poorly
5. Toxic compounds in wastewater = wastewater does worse
Tell girls that this is why people are still researching how to grow large quantities of algae.
Explain that researchers test things on a small scale or model them before building a facility.
Ask girls if they have any questions about algae, biofuels, or doing research in the future.