Click on the link above to download a file you can open in your word processing program.

This teacher’s guide contains three sections:

Site overview
Questions and activities to review key energy-related principles
Setup and guidance for experiments and activities

I. SITE OVERVIEW

The Energy Efficiency World website is designed to educate 8- to 12-year-old students about energy, motivate them to make energy-saving behavioral changes, and encourage their families to do the same.

The site is geared for a range of interests and reading levels. Advanced vocabulary words are highlighted; clicking on these words can access definitions. Most of the site content is appropriate for students in grades 3-7 and supports several National Science Education Standards for these grades.

Here’s what each section of the website covers.

Learn About Energy

The many forms of energy. Energy transfer. How renewable and nonrenewable energy sources are used to make electricity. How electricity is generated. Activities: Identifying sources of energy used in the home; simulating the motion of a turbine. Experiment: Building an electrical circuit.

Use Energy Efficiently

What it means to use energy efficiently. How energy efficiency differs from conservation. How kids can save energy at home and at school. Energy-efficient appliances. Activities: Home energy inspection. Identifying the largest energy users in the home. Experiment: Home energy-saving program and utility bill analysis.

Help the Environment

Making the connection between saving energy and conserving natural resources. How saving energy reduces pollution. Recycling. Experiment: Make a greenhouse to learn about the greenhouse effect. Activity: Explore the energy used to make grocery bags.

Want to Know More?

For more advanced students interested in energy and efficiency. Includes a time line of significant energy events, detailed information on renewable and nonrenewable energy resources, and alternative fuel vehicles.

Stop the Guzzler Game

An interactive game in which students race the clock to identify home energy wasters.

Home Energy Inspection

A checklist to help students and their families identify and correct energy waste.

Energy Saver Certificate

A checklist of the various sections of this website, which students can use to map their progress, plus an energy efficiency pledge. We recommend that students print the certificate before starting the site and have a teacher and parent or other adult sign it after they have visited all the sections.

Glossary

Definitions of energy-related words found on the site. Students can access these definitions by clicking on the words that appear highlighted on the site.

Links to Related Sites

Hot links to related sites about the science of energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy resources, energy inventors, careers in the energy field, and so on.

II. ACTIVITIES AND QUESTIONS TO REVIEW KEY PRINCIPLES

The questions below review key principles related to energy, efficiency, and the environment. Here are a few ideas for how to use them with your class:

Use as a pre- and post-test to assess student understanding before and after using the website. (To use as a written test, cut and paste the questions into your word processing program, delete the answers, and print one sheet for each student.)
Use as discussion points to review basic information with the whole class.
Put students into small groups and assign questions to each group; ask them to use the website to find the answers.
After all students have completed all sections of the website, organize the class like a game show: the “contestants” can continue to answer questions until they get one incorrect, at which point a new contestant takes their place.

Questions About Energy

What is energy? (the ability to change or move matter)
What are some of the various forms of energy? (chemical, radiant, mechanical, electrical, nuclear)
What is electrical energy? (energy from the flow of electrons, also known as electricity)
Give an example of how energy can be transferred from one object to another. (when you ride a bike you transfer mechanical energy from your legs to the pedals)
Give an example of how energy can change from one form to another. (a toaster changes electrical energy into heat; through digestion, your body changes the chemical energy in food to mechanical energy for your body’s movement)
What does it mean when we say an energy resource is “nonrenewable”? (it is not easily replaced, so it can be used up and we can run out of it)
Give some examples of nonrenewable energy resources. (oil, coal, natural gas)
What does it mean when we say an energy resource is “renewable”? (it is easily replaced)
Give some examples of renewable energy resources. (wind, hydropower, solar energy, geothermal energy, biomass, energy crops)
How is a pinwheel like a turbine in an electric power plant? (it spins when pushed by water or steam)
Name two energy sources you use at home or at school. (electricity, natural gas, propane, wood, charcoal, solar energy)
What is a circuit? (a closed loop that allows electricity to flow through it)

Questions About Efficiency

What does it mean to use energy efficiently? (it means you are changing or moving the most matter with the least energy)
How is an energy-efficient appliance different from a nonefficient appliance? (an energy-efficient appliance uses much less energy to do the same job)
How is a good athlete like an energy-efficient appliance? (good athletes move in the most efficient way possible to make the best use of their bodies’ energy)
What is the ENERGY STAR® label? (a label that tells you which appliances use energy super efficiently)
How does energy conservation differ from energy efficiency? (conservation means using less energy; energy efficiency means using less energy while getting more service from your appliances)
What are some examples of energy-efficient behaviors? (covering pots while cooking, washing full loads of laundry and dishes, using a power strip to switch off all electronic appliances when done with them, etc.)
What are some examples of energy-efficient products? (compact fluorescent lightbulbs, energy-efficient showerheads, programmable thermostats, front-loading washing machines, etc.)
How can a leaky water faucet waste energy? (a leaky faucet wastes water, and a leaky hot water faucet wastes the energy used to heat the water as well)
Name three ways to save energy at home. (many possible answers; see Home Energy Inspection for ideas)
Name at least three ways to save energy at school.(make sure lights and computers are turned off before recess, lunch, and after school; make sure books or furniture do not block the vents in your classroom; keep doors and windows closed when heating or air conditioning is running; turn off the water in the bathroom when you are finished using it; report any water leaks you find to your teacher or school custodian)
How do EnergyGuide labels help you when appliance shopping? (they help you compare how much energy different appliances use)
Why is it important to find and patch air leaks around doors and windows? (tiny cracks and air leaks can add up to a hole the size of a wide-open window and make your heater or air conditioner work harder than necessary)
What activity uses the most energy in the typical home? (heating and cooling)

Questions About the Environment

How does saving energy help conserve resources? (saving energy conserves fossil fuels used to make energy; it also delays the need for new power plants, which take water, land, building materials, and other resources to build)
What is the name of the gas that it released when fossil fuels are burned to produce energy? (carbon dioxide)
Why is carbon dioxide known as a greenhouse gas? (because it is one of the gases that causes the greenhouse effect)
What is the greenhouse effect? (the warming of the earth’s climate due to an increase in gases in the atmosphere that trap the sun’s heat)
What are some changes caused by the greenhouse effect? (glaciers are melting; weather patterns are changing; plant and animal habitats are changing; hotter and colder temperatures are happening)
How can planting trees help balance the effects of using energy? (energy use puts carbon dioxide into the air; trees take carbon dioxide out of the air and give back oxygen)
What is meant by the recycle mark, a design of three arrows that make up a circle? (it is a mark that tells you a can, bottle, or jar can be recycled)
If your community does not pick up recyclable materials from your home, how can you get your bottles, cans, jars, and newspapers recycled? (ask your family to take them to a nearby recycling center)
How does recycling save energy? (producing new products from recycled materials uses less energy than making the same products from raw materials)
What are some ways you can reuse items to reduce waste? (bring your lunch in a lunch box instead of paper bag; use both sides of each sheet of paper; buy bulk products; bring your old grocery bags to the store when you shop; give away old toys)
What renewable resource are paper grocery bags made from? (trees)
What nonrenewable resource are plastic grocery bags made from? (oil or natural gas)
What are some ways energy is used to make paper or plastic grocery bags? (many answers are possible; see links in activity)

III. ACTIVITIES SETUP AND GUIDANCE

Learn About Energy: What Energy Sources Do You Use?

This activity asks students to list energy-using items they use at home, and the energy sources that power these items. Students’ lists should look something like the first two columns below. (The third column is optional for more advanced students who wish to record the forms of energy that apply to each energy source on their list.)

Energy-Using Item	Energy Source	Form(s) of Energy
space heater	electricity	electrical; radiant
fireplace	wood or natural gas	chemical; radiant
kitchen stove	natural gas or electricity	chemical; radiant; electrical
ceiling fan	electricity	electrical; mechanical
portable radio	battery	chemical; electrical
alarm clock	battery or electricity	chemical; electrical
CD or DVD player	electricity	electrical
portable CD player	battery	chemical; electrical
portable calculator	solar cell	radiant
car	gasoline	chemical; mechanical
clothes washer	electricity	electrical; mechanical
bicycle	food	chemical; mechanical

Extension

Students may include items like bikes or skateboards that require human energy to go. This is a good opportunity to discuss how people need food energy for physical activity, growth, healing, thinking, and so on—making food the most important energy source on the planet!

Learn About Energy: Turning the Blades of a Turbine

This activity uses a plastic pinwheel to simulate the blades of a turbine in an electric power plant.

Directions and Observations

1. Place the blades of a pinwheel under a stream of running water.

What happens? (blades turn)
What kind of energy transfer is taking place? (mechanical energy of water is transferred to mechanical energy of pinwheel)

2. Fill the teakettle about half full of water and place it on the burner.

What kind of energy transfer takes place as the water heats up? (electrical energy from hot plate changes to heat—aka radiant energy—that is transferred to water)

3. For this step, make sure to use an oven mitt to protect your hand. When the kettle boils, use the oven mitt to hold the pinwheel blades in the path of the steam.

What happens? (blades turn)
What kind of energy transfer is taking place? (mechanical energy of moving steam is transferred to mechanical energy of moving pinwheel blades)

Extension

In this experiment, the energy source that was used to create the steam is whatever energy source is used to run the stovetop: probably electricity or natural gas. In power plants, the steam that is used to run generator turbines can be created from a variety of energy sources, including coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power. Even geothermal energy and biomass can be used to provide steam.

Learn About Energy: Build an Electrical Circuit

This activity shows students how to build an electrical circuit. The materials (a D-cell battery, a 1.2-volt lightbulb with matching base, and 2 pieces of insulated wire for each experiment setup) are available from Radio Shack or other electronics stores.

Setup

Strip 2.5 cm of insulation off the ends of each piece of wire before giving them to students.

In order for the bulb to light, there must be a solid connection between the wire and each terminal of the battery, and between the wire and bulb base. Remind students to use tape to secure these connections. If a connection is broken in any way, the circuit will not be complete and the bulb will not light.

Directions and Observations

Students should be able to predict that energy from the battery will travel through the wires to light up the bulb. They should also be able to extrapolate that if you want more bulbs to light up you need to add more batteries.

Extension

Add bulbs to the circuit until the bulbs draw more power than the battery can supply. Depending on the number of bulbs added and how they’re wired together, you might discover that the bulbs don’t burn as brightly or that they don’t light up at all.

Use this activity to make parallels about the importance of using electricity and other resources wisely and efficiently. You can relate the need for more batteries to power more lightbulbs to what happens in a community when the demand for energy increases. Increased demand occurs when more and more homes and businesses are built in an area, and when people add energy-using appliances and equipment to their homes and businesses. To make sure there is enough electricity, utilities must increase the amount of power they produce, or people must use less electricity, or both.

Use Energy Efficiently: Fun Tests

The “Fun Tests” activity includes two tests that students can do at home.

The first test measures the water flow of their showerhead. If the shower fills a 2-litre milk carton in less than 10 seconds, it is using more water than an energy-efficient showerhead would use.

The second test has students search for air leaks around doors, windows, and air conditioners and notify their parents of any leaks they find. This activity can be done at home or at school.

Use Energy Efficiently: The Energy Pie

The “Energy Pie” activity asks students to guess at how much of home energy use goes to power various activities in a typical home. Encourage students to print the Energy Pie and label it with their guesses before they click the answer key.

Remind students that these figures are based on national averages. If your climate is extremely hot and/or cold, you will use more energy for heating and cooling than the numbers show. Likewise, if your climate is quite moderate, your heating and cooling energy use will be smaller than that shown on the pie chart.

Use Energy Efficiently: Pocket Your Energy Savings

The “Pocket Your Energy Savings” activity asks students to implement a home energy saving program for three months and track actual savings on energy bills. The objective of this activity is to make students aware that people pay for the energy they use, and that this usage can be reduced with some simple energy conservation measures.

Please note: If students have moved recently, this activity will not be successful. Also, some parents may be reluctant to send to school personal information such as that found on utility bills. Teachers will need to assess the possibilities for success with this activity before assigning it to all students.

Utility Bill Analysis

Make sure students understand why they should compare the same three months of this year’s and last year’s bills—so they are comparing periods that have roughly the same weather patterns and family habits.

Ask students to bring their utility bills to class so you can help them with the analysis part of the activity. Make sure students are comparing actual energy used, not dollar costs. Help them look for these totals, which will show up in kWh used.

Results

In some cases students may find that even though their household energy use went down for the months they saved energy compared to those months in the prior year, their bills went up due to increased energy costs.

Some students may find that despite their energy conservation efforts they were not able to reduce household energy use compared to last year. Solving this mystery will take some detective work:

Have students think carefully about the activities in their home that might have contributed to this. For example, if students had more people living in their home or visiting in the current year period, this means more energy was used to run dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, and water heaters for hot showers. If people were away on vacation, less energy would have been used.

If the current year period was a lot hotter or colder than the prior year period, this means more energy was used to run the heat or air conditioning for longer periods of time or at higher settings.

Or, if the household added some new appliances (such as a second refrigerator or freezer) in the current year, this will also increase energy use.

Help the Environment: Make a Mini Greenhouse

This experiment helps students understand how the greenhouse effect works. The ice in the covered bottle should have melted faster. Students should be able to explain that the plastic wrap holds the heat in the bottle just as the clear greenhouse gases trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere.

Directions and Observations

If students think the uncovered bottle will let in more sunlight, they may predict that temperatures will be higher and the ice will melt faster in this bottle.

Conclusions

Did one bottle of ice melt faster than the other? Why? (the covered bottle of ice should have melted faster than the uncovered bottle because the plastic traps heat inside the bottle)
How are your observations related to the transfer of radiant energy? (radiant energy from the sun was transferred to the ice through the plastic bottle)
How are your observations related to the greenhouse effect? (the plastic wrap over the top of the bottle is like the layer of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that are trapping heat from the sun and causing our planet’s climate to change)

Help the Environment: Bag It—Paper or Plastic?

The purpose of this activity is to help students understand the many ways that energy is involved in manufacturing grocery bags, and to motivate them to reuse and recycle these bags. Encourage students to follow the instructions and write down all the ways they think energy might be used to make each type of bag before they click on the answers.

Extension

This activity could be the springboard for a class discussion of how energy is used in other types of manufacturing, or (for older students) for research projects on energy use in various industries.