For the Classroom
Do you leave your computer on all day at your desk? Do you keep the lights on even when there's plenty of sunshine to brighten your classroom? How many things are plugged in? Do they have to be all the time? Start thinking of energy use in your classroom and the habits will naturally spill over into the rest of the school and students' homes.
Energy Hogs
What would your day be like without energy? Have a discussion about how many things you use each day that require energy. Energy is very important, but it's even more important to not be an energy hog. Energy hogs use old, inefficient appliances and leave electronics on. They don't fix energy leaks in their buildings. The energy hog challenge is a fun approach to energy conservation and your students will love it. It is a set of classroom activities that includes lessons about sources of energy, energy use, and energy conservation. Each student can become an official energy hog buster upon completion of the lessons. The energy hog website (www.energyhog.org) has online games for children, printable classroom activities and guides for teachers, and even a portal for parents.
As an extension on the project, have your students draw pictures of energy-hogging appliances and then add a hog face, legs, and tail. Then they can write something like “energy hogs waste energy and money.” You could also make a hog face, legs, and tail that could be taped to actual appliances.
Energy Audit
Do a classroom audit to find all the ways you use energy. Then identify ways to reduce your use. You can do the audit as a group, have all the students do their own audit, or assign separate areas to small groups. Here is what you'll be looking for:
Lighting. How many lights are there? How many light bulbs do they use? What is the wattage of each bulb? What type of light bulb are they? How long are the lights on each day?
Energy “vampires.” Appliances and electronics can suck energy even when they are not being used, which is why they are sometimes called energy vampires. Vanquish your vampires by unplugging things when they are not in use or plugging them into a power strip and then turning off the power when you aren't using them. For this part of the audit, write down all the different electronics and appliances, estimate how much they are used, and look at whether they are left on, put into sleep mode, turned off, or unplugged. If you can, find the wattage of the appliance or electronic either by looking on the backside or looking it up online.
Heating. Measuring how much heat you use just in your classroom is near to impossible. Instead, record what type of fuel is used to generate your heat, the number of windows in your classroom, the number of doors, and the location of any drafts. You can look for drafts by holding a wispy peacock feather or other light, flexible material that would be easily moved by the slightest air movement, near window and door frames. Also, does the classroom have a controllable thermostat? If so, at what temperature is it set?
After you've conducted your audit, have the class brainstorm ideas for how to reduce your energy use. For example, closing and opening windows or doors can help moderate your room temperature so you don't have to rely on the HVAC system so much. You could also turn out the lights, or at least a section of the lights, when the sun is shining bright enough to light the room. Make sure you unplug your vampires at the end of each day. What else can your students think of?
