SOE Student Booklet - Illawarra Environmental Education Centre

 Switched
On
Energy
Student Booklet
Stage 3 - Science and Technology Focus
Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Name: _______________________
Class: _______________________
School: ______________________
Hello Bright Spark! Welcome to
the most electrifying topic you
are going to study all year! It’s true, we
are going to check out what electricity
is, how to use it, how to make it, how to
store it and my favourite, how to save it!
Elec-teriffic!
We are going to play with solar gizmos,
wind powered gadgets and even cook
some food using the mighty power of
the sun – no batteries included. Sparktacular! You will be learning while
having fun and doing lots of practical
activities.
This little booklet will help you keep a
track
of
your
ideas,
conduct
experiments and hopefully get you to
discover a whole lot more about one of
the most useful things in our modern
lives – electricity! Electricity is too good
to waste.
Now this is really important stuff
because electricity affects the wellbeing
of people around the world, now and in
the future. Making electricity is tricky
and there is always an impact on the
environment, but some ways of making
it have a bigger impact than others…
In the box above, draw yourself as a robot. Try
to include your power source and show us
what you can do!
Cover Image: Tesla Coil Car Alarm, courtesy of www.tesladownunder.com check out the site for more
amazing electrickery!
This project has been assisted by
the New South Wales Government
through its Environmental Trust.
2 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC The ‘Switched On’ Map
Here is a bit o f a map to tell you about where we are going with all this stuff! Energy use at home Energy affecting our lives Where does our electricity come from? (Research and presentation) Heat Light Sound Types of Energy Kinetic Nuclear Chemical Electrical Gravitational Illawarra Environmental Education Centre Visit Save energy at your school By the time you get here – you’ll be an energy expert! Build your own solar oven! Audit your school’s energy use 3 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Powerful Homes
Hot
H2O
Air-con
Ha Ha! Pretty funny hey? Well, maybe not if you are the family who wants the fridge…
Have a look at the ‘big house’ in this cartoon and see if you can find 20 different energy
consuming items.
Then - Write down in the table the six appliances that you think will use the most electricity
in one day and try to list them in order of using most energy to least.
Circle three of these appliances that you think your family could not live without.
Discuss your answers with those sitting near you and change the order of
appliances if you have changed your mind about which use the most.
Energy Use Around the ‘Big’ Home (from cartoon)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Check this out –
electricity travels
as fast as light,
that’s about
300,000 km/hr,
which is 7.5 times
around the earth in
one second. Wow,
that is so speedy!
4 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Energy Use at Home - A Greenhouse Nightmare!
Task: Answer the questions about the previous cartoon (From Nicholson in "The
Australian" newspaper: www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au)
1. What is the message the cartoonist trying to share with us?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. Explore how you feel about ideas shown in the cartoon and write down your thoughts.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. Write down what you think would be fair in this situation.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. Do you think this cartoon applies to the way you live? What could you do about that?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
How Do You Use Energy?
That ‘Greenhouse Nightmare’ cartoon may look pretty funny to you, but how does your
family use electricity? We measure the amount of electricity used by a house in kilowatthours, which is how many thousand watts per 24 hours. Look at your bill and see if you can
find your house’s average electricity use per day. Write it down here. (If you did not bring a
bill in, use the ones provided in Appendix A – near the end of this booklet)
Your house’s average daily usage = ________kWhrs
All-righty-then, let’s see how that compares to some of the others
in your class. Working as a class group, we will make a graph
comparing everyone’s results. Just remember, that there are
often complicated reasons why some houses use more electricity
and some use less, so don’t hassle people about their results!
Just 1/3 of the
energy in burning
coal reaches the
consumer as
electricity.
What a waste!
Later on we may look at saving energy around your home. There
may even be a chance to earn some extra pocket money...! (See
the section on Energy Audits for more information about this).
5 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Needs Versus Wants
The boys shown in the following photographs are both about the same age. The details of
the stories are made up, but they could be true as this sort of thing actually happens in the
world today. Have a read of their situations and then answer the questions. Think about how
electricity is affecting their lives in different ways.
This is Sameer. He is twelve years old and works
about 10 hours every day pulling apart computer
circuit boards so that the valuable parts can be
melted down and sold. He is grateful to have a
job even though he only gets 200 rupee a day
(that’s about $3.60 Australian). He lives with his
mother and 3 sisters in a very small house with
only one bedroom. His job is dirty and the
materials he handles are toxic (poisonous). He
does not like the work conditions, but he has to
earn that money to help support his family, so he
does not complain to his boss. He wishes he
could still be at school.
This Samuel. He is twelve years old and goes to
school 6 hours a day. He likes to play games on
his computer for about an hour a day. He gets
$10 pocket money a week for taking the rubbish
out, sweeping the floor and helping with the
washing up sometimes. He lives with his sister
and his parents in a big house with a spare
bedroom for guests. His favourite TV shows are
Prank Patrol and Horrible Histories. He likes
school but wishes he didn’t always have to do
homework. He just got a new bike for his
birthday and it cost about $360 Australian.
What are Sameer’s basic needs to survive?
What are Samuel’s basic needs to survive?
What do you imagine are Sameer’s wants?
What do you imagine are Samuel’s wants?
Do you think it is fair that these boys live such different lives? Write down why you think this. ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
6 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Research Task
Don’t be scared, this isn’t going to be hard! All you need to do is to explain a bit about how
electricity is made from one of the following methods:
Coal (Black)
Coal (Brown)
Hydro (Dam)
Wind
Natural Gas
Geothermal
Nuclear
Oil
Biomass
Tidal
Wave
Coal Seam Gas
Solar (Battery Storage)
Solar (Liquid Salt Storage)
Hydro (mini Hydro)
Include information about:
o Where this type of energy resource is found on the planet
o The basics of how it is changed into electricity
o What the impact on the environment is from making electricity this way
o Where making electricity like this is most suitable on the planet
o The ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ of this way of making electricity
o Whether you believe it is a good thing or not.
Present this to the class so they can learn about some of the different ways to make
electricity.
After your presentation: Circle the comment that best describes how you went.
Think about your presentation and rate how well you got your message across to the class:
Really well
Pretty well
OK
Could be better
Hopeless
How well do you think you covered the information?
100%
Covered most of it
OK
Missed a few bits
Oopsy!
How engaging do you think your presentation was
Enthralling
Informative
OK
A bit dull
Boring
Would you do anything differently if you were to do this again?
_________________________________________________________________________
Who do you think had the most educational presentation?
_________________________________________________________________________
Who do you think had the most entertaining presentation?
_________________________________________________________________________
According to Google, the energy it takes to conduct 100
searches on its site is equivalent to a 60-watt light bulb
burning for 28 minutes. That may not sound like much, but
in 2012, Google averaged 214 million searches an hour!
Just imagine how many light bulbs that equals… 7 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC How Energy Hungry Are You? – Carbon Footprints
Do you want to know how much energy you are using (this is called your Carbon Footprint)?
Well, whether you do or not, let’s find out!
You will need to access a computer and go to this website: www.footprintnetwork.org
Then scroll down the page and click on the orange writing that says ‘FOOTPRINT FOR
YOU’, and get started!
Record the results of your quiz here. This is called your Carbon Footprint:
Number of planets:
______
Number of Hectares of productive area:
______
If you have the time, redo the quiz and see if you can make the Carbon Footprint as big as
possible or as small as possible.
Different Forms of Energy
So much to learn! Wow! Well, energy is a wonderful thing and it comes in many forms. So
far we have really been only looking at electricity, but energy can also appear as:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
heat energy(we call this thermal energy)
movement energy(we call this kinetic energy)
light energy
sound energy
gravity energy
nuclear energy
chemical energy
Amazingly, energy can never be destroyed! It just changes from one form to another. So
then, what is ‘energy’? Well, energy is used to do things, such as work and energy can be
recognised by what it causes to happen.
Task: Whilst we are using computers, let’s explore some of these different types of energy.
Go to www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/
Click on the ‘Science’
Click on ‘Energy & the Environment’
Click on ‘What is Energy’.
Now have a look through the slideshow and try to answer the questions in the quiz.
Background Information: Most of our electricity is created in power stations by
transforming the stored chemical energy in coal, into kinetic energy to drive huge turbines.
These turbines produce electrical energy, which is transported through wires into homes.
Coal is formed from ancient forests and is called a fossil fuel. Once coal is used it cannot
be reused, for this reason it is called a non-renewable energy source. Transforming the
energy in coal into electricity produces carbon dioxide gas, which gets added to the carbon
dioxide already in the air and increases greenhouse gases in our in our atmosphere.
Scientists believe that these increased greenhouse gases are one of the main causes of
climate change.
8 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Task: Identify examples of the following energy transformations around the school (there is
one example done for you). Then try and make up two more of your own.
What form of energy
is there at the start?
What form of energy
is it turned into?
Electrical energy
Light energy
Electrical energy
Sound energy
Chemical energy
Kinetic energy
Kinetic energy
Sound energy
Electrical energy
Heat energy
Chemical energy
Heat energy
Evidence of this transformation
There is light coming from the light globes
Greenhouse Effect
From the information discussed in class, fill in the boxes to explain what is happening in this
diagram of the Greenhouse Effect.
Hey, did you know that
in 15 minutes, the sun
radiates as much energy
onto our globe as humans
use during an entire
year? Crazy! 9 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Identifying Energy - IEEC Visit
OK energy detective, this part of the booklet is all about using and making different types of
energy. You will be working with your teacher and teachers from the Environmental Education
Centre to investigate energy and use a variety of solar gizmos, wind powered do-hickeys and even
human powered thingamy-bobs! (They are the official scientific names ;-)
Task: In groups, observe and explore the energy devices. Complete the table to describe each
device, identify where the energy is coming from (we call this the ‘source’) and find evidence that
something is happening.
Energy Device
Description of Device
Source of Energy
Evidence of Energy
Energy Bike
Solar Fan
Wind Up Torch
Wind Turbine
10 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC MAKING CONNECTIONS
OK bright spark, let’s talk about batteries. You love them, I know. They power some of your
toys, the TV remote, or maybe your torch, they are in computers, iPods and mobile phones
– so many places! Well, energy stored in a battery is actually chemical energy. This
chemical energy is changed into electrical energy, when we use a battery to do work of
some sort, such as making a light bulb glow or making a phone call on a mobile.
Investigation 1: How can we show that there is energy in a battery?
Task: In groups, work out how to combine the wire, battery and bulb so that it makes the bulb light up.
Complete the picture of the wire, battery and bulb arrangement by connecting the black wires.
Label the battery, wires and bulb.
Draw Arrows to show the flow of electric current from one object to another in the circuit (that is
what we call this setup). Here is a hint - electricity goes from the negative end of the battery (we call
this the negative terminal) to the positive one.
Question: Where does the change from electric energy to light energy take place?
______________________________________________________
Use these symbols to draw an electric circuit diagram of the circuit you built. That means,
draw the same sort of thing as we did above, but this time use these symbols instead of the
pictures.
electric wire
light bulb
battery
Circuit Diagram
11 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS
Did you know that some things let electricity flow through them with ease? These
materials allow electricity to be transferred from one place to another, and we call them
conductors. Other things won’t let electricity flow easily, and they are called insulators.
Investigation 2: How can we find out which materials are good conductors of
electricity and which are not?
Task: In groups, set up an electric circuit using the batteries, bulb, globe and wires as you did in
‘Investigation 1’. Put the material you want to test for conductivity between the wire from the battery
and the wire to the bulb. For example, use aluminium foil to join the wires. Does the bulb still light?
Is aluminium foil an insulator or conductor?
Here are some ideas for materials to test the conductivity of: a pencil, an eraser, aluminium
foil, plastic, wood, copper or other materials you find.
List your results in the table below.
Material Tested
Prediction:
Test Result:
Insulator or Conductor
Insulator or Conductor
Notes
Pencil
Eraser
Complete and label the picture to show where the materials were put in the circuit to test their
conductivity.
Do you think this is a fair test for checking conductivity? Explain why or why not (Think
about what the difference would be if we were using more power…)
______________________________________________________________
The electrical energy used in this investigation cannot hurt you.
However, the electrical energy in a powerpoint can kill you!
Do not play with electricity from the electrical wiring of your school or
home or anywhere else! 12 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Switches
Electrical energy is made up of moving negative particles called electrons. Conductors
provide a pathway along which electrical energy (electrons) move. A switch is designed
to make a gap or a ‘break’ in the circuit.
Investigation 3: What happens when there is a break in an electric circuit?
Task: In groups, add a switch to the circuit as shown in the photograph. Draw a circuit diagram of
your set up. Label the flow of electrons from the negative terminal to the positive terminal on the
battery.
Circuit Diagram Symbols
light bulb
switch
Battery
battery
Bulb
Switch
Circuit Diagram
Explain how an electric switch works.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
13 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Series and Parallel Circuits
Hypothesising and Predicting - Extension Exercise
Investigation 4: Why don’t all the lights in a house go out when one is switched off?
Task: In groups, construct two circuits as shown in the following circuit diagrams.
Circuit 1 - Bulbs in Series
Circuit 2 – Bulbs in Parallel
Describe the difference between circuit 1 and circuit 2.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
In which circuit do you predict the bulbs will glow more brightly?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Construct and turn on your circuit. In which circuit do the bulbs glow more brightly?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
What happens in circuit 1 when one bulb is removed?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
What happens in circuit 2 when one bulb is removed?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Explain why all of the lights in a house are not affected when one is turned off.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
14 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Solar Powered Oven
Design and Make Challenge: Solar Powered Oven
Imagine a solar powered oven that could cook your food anywhere you go as long as there
is sunshine – no electricity required! Sound good? Well it is, and you’re going to make one!
In many parts of the planet there is no access to electricity, however there may be lots of
sunshine. So, for this reason and many others, a solar cooker is fun to make
Task: To design and make a solar oven that will cook food without using electricity.
1. Research different designs of solar ovens. There are lots of styles on the internet. Think about
its shape, its size and how you would use it (eg: where does the food go in and how do you
get it out). Try to work out the details of how you would build it if you only had cardboard,
aluminium foil, sticky tape, black paint, plastic sheet and glue.
2. Within the time frame given, make your solar oven using the materials listed:
o Cardboard Box somewhere between 30cm and 60 cm in size (large boxes will be
difficult to heat and manage, small boxes may not hold the heat well).
o Aluminium Foil
o A spare box to cut up for extra parts
o Sticky Tape
o Plastic Sheeting – some form of plastic sheeting to cover the ‘oven’ part of the boxes
and hold in the heat greenhouse-effect-style
o Black Paint
o Glue
3. Test your oven on a sunny day and compare it’s performance to others in your class. You
could test it by seeing how hot it makes a cup of water in one hour (be careful the water may
be dangerously hot!), how well it cooks food (left over pizza works deliciously:-) or how
quickly it melts ice cubes. The most accurate way would be to use a thermometer if there
are some available.
4. Review your device and make some notes on the following points:
Does it work as you had planned?
______________________________________________________________
Does it need to be re-designed? Why?
______________________________________________________________
Do you need to start all over again? Why?
______________________________________________________________
Make a note of any changes you would make to improve its performance.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Why is your oven a good idea?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
15 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Energy Audit of Your School
Did you know that Australians are amongst the world’s highest producers of greenhouse
gases (per person)? Some of these greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, are
produced from burning coal to produce electrical energy and at the moment, we get most of
our electrical energy from burning coal.
So how can you cut down your school’s electricity use? Well, start with an ‘energy audit’ and
this will help you create an energy saving plan, which can:
a. save the school money;
b. reduce carbon dioxide gas emissions by reduced energy use
c. help the planet J Hooray!
OK, here comes the science-y bit…
Electrical energy can be measured in kilowatt hours (kWh)
☼1 kWh of electricity in NSW produces about 1 kilogram of CO2
☼ One kilowatt hour equals one thousand Watts of energy being used in one hour. For
example a 100 watt light bulb left on for ten hours uses 1 kWh of electricity and produces
about 1 kilogram of CO2
Now, let’s look at how your school uses electricity. Your teacher should have gathered the
school’s electricity bills from the last year, write the amount of kilowatt-hours used by your
school below
Bill 1 ____________ kWhrs
Bill 2 ____________ kWhrs
Bill 3 ____________ kWhrs
Bill 4 ____________ kWhrs
Total = ____________kWhrs
Right, let’s compare your school’s figures to
averages from other schools around New South
Wales. The following table shows the average
amount of electricity used by schools of different
sizes in NSW. You can work out your school’s
average consumption rate per student. (Source DEC intranet, figures for 2010.)
To work out where your school fits in ask your
teacher what category your school is (eg: Primary
Class 3) and then fill out the equation on the
following page.
Number of kWhrs for
your school per year
÷
number of students
at your school
=
Average kWhrs used
per student per year
16 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC How did the number you got for your school compare to those given for your school type in
the table? If it is lower, then this means you are below the state average, nice work. If it’s
higher then that’s, well, ahhh, not so good.
Once you know how much your school uses, it may be good to set a target of how much
you think it should use, then with a bit of effort, you can try to achieve that (and save the
planet in the process!). To see the difference you have made, you could check future bills
and compare them to the same time from the previous year.
Here is a copy of a school’s bill showing what happened when they started trying to save
energy. This school is about half an hour south of Wollongong and they are saving some big
bucks on their electricity, which means more money for other things the school needs –
hooray!
I have heard
that if a person
yelled for 8
years, 7
months, and 6
days, they
would only
make enough
energy to heat
one cup of
coffee.
17 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Walk Through Energy Audit of Your School Righty-O Super-Sleuths, time to hunt for where energy is being used and where there are energy saving opportunities. You will be
working in groups to explore parts of your school to try and identify what energy hungry appliances are lurking around the place, Whilst
you’re at it, you may spot many opportunities to save energy too, keep your eyes peeled! The main things to record are numbers of
appliances (do a tally) and estimates of how many hours they are used. Also, the table below does not account for standby power, so this
could be noted separately (standby power is when things are ‘off’, but are still using energy. This is often an easy opportunity for energy
saving by switching things off at the wall).
Number of
appliances
Appliance
Light fitting (two neon tubes)
Light Fitting (three neon tubes) Small air conditioner
Large air conditioner
Ceiling fan
Computer (PC)
Computer (Mac)
Interactive Whiteboard,
speaker, projector &
Computer
80
120
2000
6500
100
120
80
350
Total kWhrs / year
Number of
Hours used
days used per
per day
year
Average
Wattage
(number x wattage x
hours x days) all
divided by 1000
Notes
Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Fax machine
700
Commercial fridge
500
Domestic fridge
320
Boiling water unit
2400
Hot water system
3600
Kiln
15000
Other
Illawarra EEC Lightning is amazing, its like free range,
‘wild’ electricity. Did you know that
lightning can reach a temperature of
28,000 degrees Centigrade – that’s hotter
than the surface of the sun! It’s so hot it
can melt sand into glass.
There are around 1 billion volts in a bolt
of lightning and it could toast more than
100 000 slices of bread, yum yum.
Lightning is still not perfectly
understood and new types have recently
been discovered called ‘sprites’
19 Appendix A – Sample Electricity Bills. These can be used with the ‘Energy Use at Home – A Greenhouse
Nightmare’ activity if you were not able to bring in a bill from home.
Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC 21 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC 22 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC 23 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Appendix B – Carbon Footprint Graphics
Figure B1 – Carbon Footprints by Nation (Source: Climate Analysis Indicators Tool, Version 8.0 (World Resources Institute, 2010). Note: land use change is excluded.) 24 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC Figure B2 - Global Carbon Footprints. (Source: http://www.stanfordkaystudio.com/information.html)
25 Switched On Energy, Stage 3 -­‐ Science and Technology Illawarra EEC FIgure B3 - Australia’s Carbon Pollution Profile
(Source: 2009 emissions from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2011, DCCEE analysis.)
26