Consumer Appliances and the Environment

Learning Objective: Students will measure the energy consumption of some basic household appliances Students will create a visual representation of the potential energy reductions they can make Students will identify the types of gasses associated with the production of electricity (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide)

Assessment Criteria: Students will collect data from their homes about energy usage Students will create a presentation representing their carbon outputs Students will identify the listed waste gasses above

Standard: NGSS MS-ESS3-i: Use visual representations of system models to support explanations of how human activities significantly impact the atmosphere Prior Knowledge: Students will have already moved through information about the Earths greenhouse effect. Students will understand an increase in the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere correlates to increased temperatures and global climate change. Students will add to this knowledge by finding out how their own electricity usage is compared to these large, general figures. Students will understand concept of conservation of matter. Instructional Strategies: In this lesson, I will demonstrate the energy consumption of common household appliances in real time. This will be accomplished by the use of an energy meter, such as the commercially available Kill a Watt (available through amazon and other retailers for <$20). Materials and set-up: Board/projector Kill a Watt Lamp Traditional light bulb CPF light bulb LED light bulb Television Candle

Time Required: 2 class periods of about 50 minutes

Instructional Sequence: Day One: 1) Introducing the lesson Greet students as they walk in. When students take their seats and the bell rings, students should begin working on the warm up problem on the board: How do greenhouse gasses affect the environment? Students will write down their responses and hand them in. Anticipated responses: Greenhouse gasses hold in more of the heat from the sun. The gasses insulate the Earth. The gasses hold the Earths heat in. Tell the students to take a minute or two to discuss their responses with neighbors, and allow collaboration time. Then, gather the students attention and discuss the problem. 2) Body of the lesson Allow the students to remain in their groups but gather their attention. Light a candle at the front of the room, and ask students, What will happen if I let this candle burn all day. Anticipated response: The wax will melt and the candle will burn away. Ask the students, Where does the wax go? Is it gone forever? Anticipated responses, it all burns up, it is transformed into heat. If the students do not come to the conclusion that the candle must turn into other substances, ask Can matter ever be destroyed? Students should remember that matter cannot be created or destroyed, and then should be guided to the response that the wax turns into gasses like carbon dioxide when burned. Next, plug the lamp into the wall while in full view of the students. Ask the students where the energy that creates the light comes from. Anticipated responses the electrical wires, coal, a power plant. Ask students what the differences between a power plant and the candle are. Students should identify that the candle turns stored energy in the wax into light and heat, whereas the power plant creates electrical power. Tell the students that for this reason, the amount of electricity we use also impacts the amount of greenhouse gasses we release. At this point, pass out the worksheet that will guide the students through their days activities. Students will observe and record different power drains for common appliances on one side. The second side of the worksheet will have a rubric for the home analysis project. Plug each one of the appliances (normal light bulb, compact fluorescent bulb, LED bulb, and television) into the Kill a Watt energy meter and record the energy draw when on and off (the television may draw some power even while off).

Ask the students to estimate how much of our energy is used to power lights and appliances. After students have made their estimates, bring up the projector and display the energy usage diagram found here: http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_use The EIA (energy information administration) is a part of the EPA. The students will then be asked to identify what types of gasses are produced in the electric plants as well as how much carbon dioxide is produced. This information can be found on the eia site as well. http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=77&t=11 Ask the students to read the remainder of the worksheet which will explain their homework and project. The worksheet will explain that the students are to record the number of hours each of the appliances tested (lights and TVs) are used in each of their homes. These appliances are easily used with lower frequency, or changed out for more efficient appliances (light bulbs). This data will be recorded over the course of a few days and averaged. Students will then calculate the carbon output from these devices in their households. Example: a traditional 100 watt light bulb operated four hours per day produces 63kg of carbon dioxide per year. Students will then complete their project by creating a visual representation of their annual carbon dioxide outputs; this could be drawings of comparable masses such as cars, trucks, houses, ect. Students will also be asked how much of this could be saved if they made certain changes (ex: reducing hours of television watched, or switching to more efficient bulbs). The values for carbon outputs for the different appliances should be calculated early by the teacher to match the appliances used. 3) Wrapping up the Lesson Remind students when the deadline for their project is, and remind them each day in class to make their hourly appliance usage estimates. 4) Evaluating Learning Evaluation will take place with the presentations of the projects.

Day 2: 2) Body of the lesson Students should come in ready to present their visual representations of carbon outputs. After students have presented their individual ideas, tell them to calculate the percentage reduction in carbon usage (1-lower value/higher value * 100%). Ask the students to again consider the total carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation in the US in 2011 (2.116 billion metric tons, source EIA). Ask the students to calculate the reduction in carbon dioxide output if everyone in the U.S (population 300 million) implemented their solution. 4) Evaluation General rubric for grading worksheet/project: Grading Criteria: Student has correctly recorded the value of energy consumption for household appliances

Student has correctly estimated their household energy usage based on number of appliances listed Student correctly lists the gasses that are produced in the process of making electrical power in the U.S. Student creates and accurate physical representation (or drawing) of their carbon dioxide output

Design Rationale: The students do not completely meet the NGSS standard ESS3-I listed above in this lesson alone. Instead, this lesson was created to supplement and build on an existing understanding of greenhouse gasses and the Earths system. The study of the greenhouse effect takes place in phase one of our unit plan (unperturbed Earth systems-atmosphere, oceans ect). This lesson takes place within phase two of the Unit (human impact on these systems). The goal of this lesson is to personalize the information that students have taken it. It is easy for students of this age range to struggle with concepts dealing with enormous numbers such as those that are dealt with in earth and climate sciences. For this reason, this lesson was designed to create a meaningful connection with the students lives. Students can build off of their prior knowledge to see that each one of us is connected to climate change. This connection will be developed further in phase three of the unit (designing solutions to environmental problems) in which the students will use their knowledge from the previous two units to propose solutions to our energy needs that will are feasible for most people living in industrialized countries that will create a positive change on the environment.