the energy journey: part 3 be energy wise

The Energy Journey: Part 3Be Energy Wise

How to use electricity sensibly

Your Climate Cops mission

• To understand that everyday appliances use electricity

• To understand that different appliances have different power ratings

• To understand how power ratings affect the amount of energy used

• To identify how to save energy by understanding:

- Why do we want to save electricity?- How will we save electricity?- How will we know we’ve saved electricity?

Activity 1:

Watt is Right?

How do we measure electricity use?

Did you know…

• Lots of things in our homes need electricity to work

• The amount of electrical power an appliance uses is measured in Watts (W) and Kilowatts (kW)

• 1000 watts = 1 kilowatt

Your mission

Are you ready…

Can you put the items in order starting with the one that uses the least amount of power first?

Climate Cops discussion

So, which appliances do you think need lots of power to make them work?

How long do you or your family use the different appliances every day?

For how long do you use the appliances?

Electrical Appliance

Watts (W)

Kilowatts (kW)

The number of hours used

Electrical energy used in kWh

Cooker 10,000W 10kW

Washing machine

3,000W 3kW

Kettle 2,000W 2kW

Vacuum Cleaner

1,000W 1kW

Microwave 800W 0.8kW

Toaster 750W 0.75kW

For how long do you use the appliances?

Electrical Appliance

Watts (W)

Kilowatts (kW)

The number of hours used

Electrical energy used in kWh

Television 300W 0.3kW

Fridge/Freezer 125W 0.125kW

Lamp 60W 0.06kW

Ordinary bulb 40W 0.04kW

Games console 10W 0.01kW

Energy saving bulb

7W 0.007kW

• POWER: we measure the amount of electrical power an appliance uses in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW)

• ENERGY: we work out how much electrical energy is used by multiplying the power of the appliance by the number of hours it is used for. This gives us the amount of energy used in kilowatt-hours or kWh

• One kWh is the energy used when one kilowatt of power is used for one hour

Power vs. Energy

Saving energy

Climate Cops quick quiz…

• If an ordinary light bulb uses 40 watts of power…

How much energy would be used if it was on for 4 hours?

• If an energy saving light bulb uses 7 watts of power…

How much energy would be used if it was also on for 4 hours?

• How much energy would be saved?

Activity 2:

The Climate Cops Quiz

Do you know why it’s important to be energy wise?

Let’s play the Climate Cops quiz to find out.

Are you ready?

Climate Cops: Question 1

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• The light is left on when there is no one in the room

Statement 2

• This wastes lots of electricity

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 2

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• We have three energy saving light bulbs

Statement 2

• If every house fitted three energy saving light bulbs, it would save enough energy to run the country’s street lights for a year

Source: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 3

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• The TV is left on standby

Statement 2

• Appliances on standby don’t use energy

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 4

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• Hot food is put in the fridge or freezer

Statement 2

• More energy will have to be used to cool the food down

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 5

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• Boiling a full kettle of water to make one cup of tea

Statement 2

• Energy and water are not being wasted

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 6

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• We have a dripping hot water tap in our kitchen

Statement 2

• It wastes energy and in one week wastes enough water to fill half a bath

Source: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 7

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• A house with dirty windows

Statement 2

• It would make no difference if the windows were clean

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 8

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• Heat can escape through walls, windows, the roof, floors, doors and draughts

Statement 2

• Insulating your home will stop the heat from escaping

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 9

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• We have an energy saving fridge

Statement 2

• Energy saving appliances cost less to run and also help reduce climate change

The Climate Cops quiz

Climate Cops: Question 10

ARE THEY CONNECTED? TRUE OR FALSE

Statement 1

• A mobile charger is left plugged in when the phone has finished charging

Statement 2

• Leaving my charger plugged in doesn’t waste energy

The Climate Cops quiz

The Climate Cops quiz: Answers

Climate Cops: Question 1 TRUE

Climate Cops: Question 2 TRUE

Climate Cops: Question 3 FALSE

Climate Cops: Question 4 TRUE

Climate Cops: Question 5 FALSE

Climate Cops: Question 6 TRUE

Climate Cops: Question 7 FALSE

Climate Cops: Question 8 TRUE

Climate Cops: Question 9 TRUE

Climate Cops: Question 10 FALSE

The Climate Cops quiz:Whiteboard activity

Statement 1 Statement 2 Tick if true

The light is left on when there is no one in the room.

This wastes lots of electricity.

We have three energy saving light bulbs in our home.

If every house fitted 3 energy saving light bulbs, it would save enough energy to run the country’s street lights for a year.

The TV is left on standby. Appliances on standby don’t use energy.

Hot food is put in the fridge or freezer.

More energy will have to be used to cool the food down.

Boiling a full kettle of water to make one cup of tea.

Energy and water are not being wasted.

Statement 1 Statement 2 Tick if true

We have a dripping hot water tap in our kitchen.

It wastes energy and in one week wastes enough water to fill half a bath.

A house with dirty windows. It would make no difference if the windows were clean.

Heat can escape through walls, windows, the roof, floors, doors and draughts.

Insulating your home will stop the heat from escaping.

We have an energy saving fridge.

Energy saving appliances cost less to run and help reduce climate change.

A mobile phone charger is left plugged in when the phone has finished charging.

Leaving my charger plugged in doesn’t waste energy.

The Climate Cops quiz:Whiteboard activity

Climate Cops discussion

So, what have you learnt from this?

Activity 3:

The Earth Needs You

Climate Cops discussion

The most environmentally friendly energy is the energy we don’t use.

Why do you think it’s important that we try not to waste electricity, energy and water?

The reasons to SAVE energy

1. To SAVE the environment

2. To SAVE the Earth’s non-renewable sources

3. To SAVE money

1. To SAVE the environment

Image by: Thomas Picard, PocketAces Image by: Hafsah Al-AzemImage by: Selma Dredge

Did you know…

When we go about our daily lives, using cars and planes and heating our homes, all these activities release a gas called carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide pollutes our atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is produced by power stations that generate electricity.

Carbon dioxide speeds up the climate change process.

See how climate change works

See how climate change works

See how climate change works

See how climate change works

See how climate change works

See how climate change works

Negative effects of climate change

• If the heat cannot escape, the Earth will warm up too much.

• This is called global warming or the greenhouse effect.

Negative effects of climate change

Ice caps will melt

Image by: Thomas Picard, PocketAces

Image by: Hafsah Al-Azem

DroughtsWe are already seeing

more droughts in many

countries.

Negative effects of climate change

Image by: Selma Dredge

FloodingThere is heavy rain and

winds causing damage in

others.

Negative effects of climate change

2. To SAVE the Earth’s non-renewable sources

Did you know…

• Most of the UK’s electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas

• These will eventually run out

3. To SAVE money

Image by: Ajay Singh

Did you know…

Together, we could save millions of £££’s on our electricity and gas bills if we didn’t waste energy.

‘Energy wasting’ cards

Working in groups, see if you can guess all the activities that waste energy.

Use drama, charades or any other ways you can think of to get the class to guess the energy wasting activity on your card!

Can you remember all the energy wasting activities?

• (Space to write all the correctly guessed activities, plus any additional suggestions)

Activity 4:

Energy Questionnaire

How do you use energy at home?

• Fill in the Energy Questionnaire

• Then in your groups, discuss your answers. What should you do and why?

Our class response

Double-click on the bar chart to insert your class data.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Q. 1 Q. 2 Q. 3 Q. 4 Q. 5 Q. 6

Yes

No

Sometimes

Climate Cops discussion

So, how could the class be more energy efficient?

Activity 5:

Investigation ‘Light Bulb’

Did you remember that…

• POWER: measures the amount of electrical power an appliance uses in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW)

• ENERGY: is the amount of electrical energy that is used

Climate Cops discussion

Do you think a light bulb uses much power?

Do you think it uses much energy?

Investigation ‘light bulb’

• Ordinary light bulbs use less power compared to many other things that use electricity

• Energy saving light bulbs use even less than ordinary light bulbs

• But we have lots of lights in our homes and school

• We also use lights for long periods of time

Investigation ‘light bulb’ homework

Your mission:To see how much energy your lights are using in your home.

To see how much energy could be saved if energy saving light bulbs were used.

Investigation ‘light bulb’ – Follow-up

If all the bulbs in your house were energy saving light bulbs, how much energy would be saved every day?

Did you know…

• If everyone fitted just one energy saving light bulb, the carbon dioxide emissions saved would fill more than 1 million double decker buses

• If each house fitted three energy saving light bulbs, it would save enough energy to run the country’s street lights for a year

Source: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Activity 6:

What’s on the Meter?

Quick question…

What is an electricity meter?

Answer…

Every house has an electricity meter.

It records the amount of electricity used within our home.

What’s on the meter?

Your mission:By following the top tips on ‘The Earth Needs You’ poster, can you reduce the amount of electricity you use?

What’s on the meter? Homework follow-up

• When was the most electricity used? Was it in Week 1 or Week 2?

• What could be the reasons for this?

• When do you think the most electricity is used and why?

- At school

- At home

• Do you think any energy was wasted during the week?

• How could you have been more energy efficient?

Activity 7:

Be a Climate Cop

The Climate Cops team need your help to find ways to save energy and help the planet.

Use your skills of investigation to help cut down on the energy wasting activities that could be taking place in your school.

Do you want to be a Climate Cop?

What did you find in school?

• (Space to capture what the children found)

How can we fix the problems?

• (Space to capture the children’s suggestions)

Now it’s time to use your skills of investigation in your home too.

What about at home?

What did you find at home?Homework follow-up

• (Space to capture what the children found)

• (Space to capture the children’s suggestions)

How can we fix the problems?Homework follow-up

Now develop one of the following:

• A letter for the Headteacher about how the school can be more energy efficient

• A letter for your parents about how you can all be more energy efficient at home

• An energy saving policy for the school and your home

Climate Cop training: Follow-up

Activity 8:

Spread the word

Spread the word

• Now that you understand the importance of using energy wisely, it’s time to tell others too.

• Develop one of the following:

- A suite of posters to remind everyone at home or at school of the different

ways to be energy efficient

- A leaflet that communicates the top tips on energy efficiency and the reason’s

why it’s important

- An article for a local community newsletter that encourages people to take ‘local action, for global effect’

Activity 9:

Call Energy Efficient House!Bingo Game

Let’s play

• Your bingo card holds lots of energy wasting activities

• Cross off the energy wasting activities

• You have to cross out a complete row of four

• Then call ‘Energy Efficient House’ to win!

Good Luck!