Introduction (please watch the Introduction Video) Focus questions: How can we decrease the negative environmental impacts* of our electricity use? What can we do in our homes? Our school? Our communities?
1. What 3 suggestions do you have in answer to the focus questions above?
2. What 3 suggestions do your family or friends have in answer to the focus questions above?
3. What do you think are two positive impacts of electricity generation?
4. What do you think are two negative impacts of electricity generation?
*Note: There is a glossary of terms at the end of this packet. Words/phrases included in the glossary are written in red, and you can click on them to be taken directly to their definitions.*
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Energy Sources ● Watch: Steam Video ● Open: Energy Source Pictures ● Optional: Further explanations
1. Which of the electricity generation methods in the Energy Source Pictures use steam generation (like the video)?
2. Choose 2 of the electricity generation methods that you believe have the least environmental impacts. List and explain your reasoning:
3. Choose 2 of the electricity generation methods that you believe have the greatest environmental impacts. List and explain your reasoning:
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Lessons
Lesson 1 How can electricity be generated? 1. Fill in this chart How can you generate What’s your evidence that electricity using this electricity is flowing? combination of objects?
A) Cow magnet, coil and microammeter Watch video
B) Wooden generator, voltmeter and wires Watch video
C) Handheld flashlights Watch video
2. Look closely at each combination of objects above. What’s similar about these three combinations (A, B, and C)?
3. Based on these similarities, what three components are required to generate electricity (produce electromagnetic induction)? (Hint: Two components are objects and one component is an action.)
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Lesson 2: Which type of light bulb is the most efficient?
1. Table #1 Type of Bulb Incandescent LED Watch: Video Watch: Video
Temperature when bulb is OFF Watts (W) (Power) Temperature when bulb is ON
2. “Energy Efficient” means using less energy to provide the same service. Based on the measurements, which bulb type (LED or Incandescent) would you claim produces light most efficiently? ______What’s your evidence?
3. Table #2: Look at the photos and fill out the table. Open Photo: Incandescent Open Photo: LED Brightness (lumens)
Estimated Yearly Cost ($ )
Life (years)
Light Appearance (scale of warm-cool)
Energy Used (watts)
4. Consider the above characteristics: Which type of light bulb would you argue is best for the environment? What’s your evidence and reasoning?
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At Home Light Bulb Challenge:
5. Count the total number of light bulbs in your home ______ How can you tell if a bulb is incandescent, CFL or LED? This picture shows the basic differences between bulbs. Note that LEDs often look like incandescents, except that they have a solid plastic collar near the base instead of being all glass. Incandescents will usually be 40 watts or higher.
6. Count how many of each type of bulb is in your home:
Type of bulb # in your home
Incandescent
CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light)
LED (Light Emitting Diode)
Unknown
How to find the watts
Do you know where to look? Turn off the bulb. Incandescents usually have text on top of the bulb that includes the watts. CFLs and LEDs usually have the same text near the bottom of the bulb, on the plastic collar. If you can’t see the bulb, or if there’s no text on it, assume that it is 60 watts for an incandescent, 14 for a CFL and 7 for an LED.
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Exploring the Cost of an Incandescent bulb
If you do not have any incandescent bulbs, fill in the top chart “Exploring the Cost of an Incandescent Bulb” assuming you have a 60W and a 75W Incandescent bulb. Label which type of bulb you are examining in the first row (see example).
Exploring the Cost of an Incandescent Bulb Example Bulb #1 Bulb #2
Where are the incandescent bulbs? Kitchen Write the room, location, and type of bulb ceiling lamp Incandescent
How many watts is the bulb? 60 Watts See image above to find the watts on a bulb. Use 60 watts if unknown
How many hours per day is each bulb on? 3 Estimate or ask a family member to help you.
How many days per year is each bulb on? 365 Estimate or ask a family member to help you.
How many hours per year is the bulb used? 3 hours x 365 Multiply hours per day X days per year days = 1,095 hours
How many watts of electricity per year does it use? 60 X 1,095 = Multiply watts X hours per year 65,700 watts / year
How many kilowatts (kWh) of electricity per year 65,700 watts ÷ does it use?1 1000 = 65.7 Divide watts per year by 1000 66 kWh
How much money do you pay per year to use this 66 kWh X 0.15 bulb? = $9.86 Multiply kWh X $0.15 2
1 Most electric bills measure electricity in kilowatt hours (kWh). 2 Current cost per kWh
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How much would you save by changing each of these incandescent light bulbs to an LED bulb?
Savings By Switching to a LED Bulb Example Bulb #1 Bulb #2
Watts of a new LED bulb 9 watts 9 watts 9 watts
How much electricity per year would the new LED 9 x 1,095 = bulb use? 9,855 watts / year Multiply 9 X hours per year
How much electricity per year in kWh would the 9,855 ÷ 1,000 = new LED bulb use? 9.85 kWh Watts/year ÷ 1000
How much money would you pay per year for a 9.85 x $0.15 = LED bulb? $1.48 Multiply kWh X $0.15
How much money does it cost to light both incandescent bulbs for a year? ______
How much money would it cost to light both of the new LED bulbs for a year? ______
How much money would you save by replacing both incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs? ______
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Optional extension: Feeling the heat from an incandescent light bulb 1. Turn on an incandescent light bulb for 5 minutes. Carefully place your hand near, but NOT ON the bulb after it has been lit for 5 minutes. What do you feel from the incandescent?
2. Now, find a different type of light bulb (CFL or LED) and repeat the same procedure. What do you feel from the CFL or LED?
3. Why do you think there is a difference?
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Lesson 3: Which appliance will use the most power/energy? 1. Watch this video, then make predictions. 2. Predict: Which appliance (toaster or internet router) will require the most power to operate? Why?
3. Predict: Which appliance (toaster or internet router) will use the most energy over the course of one average day? Why?
4. How many watts does each appliance use? We will use a kill-a-watt meter to find out. Watch the video for instructions, then fill in the chart for the toaster and the router. Power: Watch video Microwave Toaster Internet Router
Watts (W) 1500 watts
Kilowatts (kW) 1.5kW (Divide watts by 1000)
The amount of energy we use in our homes and businesses is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Electric bills charge for the number of kilowatt-hours we use. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is equal to 1000 watts (W) of electricity used for one hour. For example, a 1000 watt drill needs 1000 watts of power to make it work and 1 kilowatt-hour to make it run for one hour.
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5. Using the Microwave column as an example, fill in each column of the table below to estimate the amount of energy a typical person uses each day when running these four appliances.
Energy: Microwave Toaster Internet Router
Estimate Daily Time the 10 minutes appliance is in use (in minutes)
Estimate Daily Time in use in 0.16 hours hours (Divide # minutes by 60) Kilowatt Hours (Multiply kilowatts 0.24 kWh by hours)
6. Was your prediction about which appliance would require the most power to operate correct? Why did that appliance use more when turned on? (Refer to your Watts (W) section.)
7. Was your prediction about cost for daily use correct? Why did that appliance use more energy over a day? (Refer to your Kilowatt Hours (kWh) section.)
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Optional extension: Appliance data 1. Look for the information label (located on the back, bottom or side) of two appliances. If you can’t find the information on the appliance, look up the make & model online. These are some examples:
Bread Machine (680W) Radio (50W)
2. Record the Wattage information for two different types of appliances: Appliance Name Wattage
3. Are the wattages similar or different? If different, why do you think the two wattages are different? What is different about the appliances?
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Electronic appliance scavenger hunt:
1. Find 2 appliances that require a high wattage over a short period of time.
Appliance Name Wattage
2. Find 2 appliances that require a low wattage over a long (maybe 24 hour) period of time.
Appliance Name Wattage
3. Find 2 appliances that continue to require a low wattage of power even when they are “turned off” (Vampire Power).
Appliance Name Wattage
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Lesson 4: Where does our electricity come from? Open the PDF for your state: Electricity Pies VT or Electricity Pies NH. Read and study the three pie charts and then answer the questions below. Optional: Open both and compare.
1. Look at the third chart, the one labeled “ISO-NE.” What was the largest source of electricity feeding New England’s electric wires? The second largest?
2. Look at the second chart, the one labeled “What your utility bills pay for” (what we are using in our state): Which of the ways that we generate electricity in Vermont or New Hampshire require burning fossil fuels? Which ways do not require burning but may negatively impact the environment in other ways? How so?
3. Look at the first chart-the one labeled “What NH/VT generates.” Considering environmental impacts, in your opinion, which resource for electricity generation would you increase in the region and why? Which would you decrease and why?
4. Optional: Talk to whoever pays your electric bill. What information can you learn from your bill? How much electricity does your house use in a month? What sources does it come from?
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5. What are some ways you could a. use less electricity or b. use electricity more efficiently or c. help to increase your school’s or community’s use of renewable energy sources for electricity?
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Lesson 5: Pedal Power: Which light bulb takes more effort to light? If we attach a generator to a bicycle, we can use our own energy to light up light bulbs. 1. Predict: Which bulb(s) do you think will take more effort to light; LED or Incandescent? ______ 2. Watch this video. 3. Fill out the charts based on what you saw in the video.
1 LED 2 LEDs 3 LEDs 4 LEDs
Effort needed to pedal 1 (easy) - 10 (hard)
Brightness of bulb 1 (off) - 5 (super bright)
1 Incandescent 2 Incandescents 3 4 Incandescents Incandescents
Effort needed to pedal 1 (easy) - 10 (hard)
Brightness of bulb 1 (off) - 5 (super bright)
4. Make a claim and support it with evidence: Which bulb is more efficient, an LED or an incandescent?
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Lesson 6 — Vermont: Less Energy, More Renewables: Getting to Vermont’s Goal of 90% by 2050 Poster
Open: Infographic (NH students skip this page) Step 1: Consider the large colored bar graph and study the key in the yellow/orange portion of the poster, then answer the following questions:
1. How is Vermont’s use of electricity projected to change between 2015 and 2050 if we meet our goal of 90% renewable by 2050?
2. As you grow older in Vermont, what changes are you likely to witness in how electricity is used? What changes would you like to see with how electricity is generated?
Step 2: Read all of the text in the white box labeled Where Does Electricity Come From? (on the right side of the yellow graph), then answer these two questions:
1. What changes will we see in Vermont’s electricity sources as we strive to reach Vermont’s 2050 goals?
2. What changes can you personally make in how you use electricity to help reduce your impact on the environment and climate?
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Lesson 6 — New Hampshire: Less Energy, Less Emissions
Open: NH’s Climate Goal (VT students skip this page) Step 1: Check out info from the NH’s Climate Goal. 1. What are some of the biggest uses of energy/sources of greenhouse gas emissions in NH?
2. As you grow older in NH, what changes do you think you will witness in how electricity is used? What changes would you like to see with how electricity is generated?
Step 2: Read the list of 10 immediate actions recommended for NH (in the Climate Goal document). 1. Which 2 of these do you think will be most effective? Why?
2. What changes can you personally make in how you use electricity or other energy to help reduce your impact on the environment and climate?
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Overall Learning assessment
Using the investigations, videos and questions, as a guide to demonstrate what you have learned about our focus question:
How can we decrease the negative environmental impacts of our electricity use? What can we do in our homes? Our school? Our communities?
Choose one way to answer this question and send to your teacher:
● Write 4 paragraphs in the space below.
● Create an energy action plan with your family - set goals, timelines, and check-ins and lay out in the space below.
● If you are in New Hampshire consider entering a written piece in the NHSaves Education Challenge before April 30. ● Create a poster or brochure that addresses at least two of the ideas addressed in this workshop to educate someone outside your family. List your ideas in the space below. Take a photo when you are finished.
● Create a public service announcement (PSA) that could be played on the radio. Brainstorm ideas of the main points you would want to include in the space below. Attach audio clip when finished.
● Share some of your ideas on our social media!
○ Don’t forget to tag us! @vtenergyed @nhenergyed
● Other ideas?
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Glossary of Terms, alphabetized Climate The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period. back to station
Climate change A change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
CFL Compact fluorescent light (or lamp). back to station Efficient Preventing the wasteful use of a particular resource. Doing the same job /Efficiency with less effort/energy. EX: A vehicle that can travel 40 miles on one gallon of gasoline is more efficient that a vehicle that can travel 22 miles on one gallon of gasoline. back to station
Electrical Look at this example concerning batteries: Energy versus 1. How much power can it deliver at any moment? (Think watts or W). Electrical Power Power is the measurement of energy you are using at any given moment. 2. How much total energy can the system store? (Think watt-hours or kWh). To find out how much energy a device uses, you need to multiply the amount of power it uses by the amount of time it is using that power.
Electromagnetic Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive Induction force (i.e., voltage) across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field. Moving a magnet near a coil of wire produces electrical voltage. back to station
The production and discharge of something, especially gas or radiation. back Emissions to station
Energy Power derived from the utilization of physical or chemical resources,
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(electrical) especially to provide light and heat or to work machines. The amount of electrical energy that a power plant generates or an electric utility customer uses is typically measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). back to station Environmental Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or Impacts partially resulting from a person’s or an organization's activities, products, or services. back to focus question Greenhouse The trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere, Effect
GHG- A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared Greenhouse gas radiation, e.g., carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons. back to station
Incandescent Emitting light as a result of being heated. back to station kWh - kilowatt Unit of energy. 1000 watts of electricity used per hour. Electric companies hour charge a certain amount of money per kWh. back to station
LED Light Emitting Diode back to station Magnetic Field A region around a magnetic material within which the force of magnetism acts.
Non-renewable Energy from sources that will run out or will not be replenished for energy thousands or even millions of years, such as coal, crude oil, and natural gas.
Renewable Energy from a source that is not depleted when used, such as wind or solar energy power. back to station
Watts (W) Unit of power. back to station Vampire Power Vampire Power are appliances that leech energy even when they are shut off. Vampire Power can account for as much as 20% of your monthly electricity bill. Because it often goes unnoticed, we also call it standby power. back to station
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