Our energy appetite
Investigate how we consume electricity in our lives and what devices have the biggest energy appetites.
Overview
This activity gets two teams to brainstorm all the ways we use electricity in our daily lives until they run out of ideas. Then, students work together to sort household items from highest to lowest energy consumption.
Participate as a class
A single screen and laptop is used for watching the video and answering questions together as a class.
Before you begin, make sure:
- You’re connected to the internet
- You’re projecting your screen for the class to see
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Instructions
What you'll need
- Chalkboard and chalk (or smart board and markers)
- “Our energy appetite” worksheets (print one per small group)
- “Our energy appetite” slideshow
Brainstorming list-off
- Split the class into two teams. Each team will create a list on the board of ways we use electricity at home or at school. Members of each team take turns adding an item to their team’s list.
- The team that comes up with the most answers (without repeating any from the other team’s list), wins. For example, if Team A writes “microwave” on their list, Team B can’t use that one.
- The game ends when teams can’t think of any more items that use electricity.
- By the end, you should have two long lists. Have a look and discuss how important electricity is in our lives and encourage them to consider which are “needs” and which are “wants”.
Our energy appetites
- Divide the class into smaller groups and hand out the “Our energy appetite” worksheet to each group.
- Have students cut out the images on the worksheet and sort the pictures from those that use the most electricity to those that use the least electricity.
- To reveal the answers, pull up the “Our energy appetite” slideshow. Were they close? Any surprises?
Take the quiz
- Launch the quiz activity at the top of this page to test your students on what they learned.
Curriculum Fit
Core competencies
Communications
- Connect and engage with others (to share and develop ideas)
- Acquire, interpret, and present information (includes inquiries)
Thinking
- Creative thinking: generating ideas
- Critical thinking: analyze and critique
Social responsibility
- Contributing to community and caring for the environment
The activities also connect to a variety of grade-specific curricular competencies and content in a variety of subjects including Social Studies, Science, and English Language Arts.
Assessment
- Assess students’ ability to share ideas, listen to each other and strategize.
- Assess students’ participation and cooperation during group work.
- Assess students’ understanding of how we use electricity in our daily lives.
