The use of fossil fuels is the biggest cause of climate change. If time is not urgently made to ban fossil fuels, researchers and scientists fear that our earth will warm even faster and the livability of our planet will be severely strained. So a transition is needed! Fortunately, there is a worldwide search for other energy sources. Flanders is dependent on other countries for most of its energy supply. Belgium itself depends on nuclear power plants for 51.6% of its electricity production. The first nuclear power plants in our country were built around 1975, the most recent around 1985. They are therefore 30 and 40 years old and regularly suffer from defects that require them to be shut down. There is also the problem of storing nuclear waste. We are therefore facing major challenges. In this period of transition, many scientists and researchers are looking for possible solutions to produce as much green and renewable energy as possible. As small citizens, we can also do our bit by learning to use this energy consciously.
Did you know…
scientists are tracking a new source of sustainable energy: infrared radiation that our earth sends into space. Thanks to recent technological development, it should be possible to convert this radiation into electricity.
Pupils will explore what energy is, the different sources from which energy occurs and where the energy goes.
The questions below may be exciting to explore.
About me
- What is energy? (Possibly) make a link with your own body and food
- What do you use energy for (at home)?
- What device do you use the most?
- Who has a mobile phone/smartphone/laptop/game console/...?
- What exactly do you do with it?
- How many hours a day (and night) is it on?
- How often should you recharge and how long does that take?
STEM (Science - Technology - Engineering - Mathematics)
- Where does the energy for charging your cell phone come from?
- And for heating your house/swimming pool/sports club/academy/...?
- How is a unit of energy expressed? Where does it come from?
- Do you have any idea how much energy you consume at home?
- How much does that cost monthly/yearly? Possibly attach an assignment to ask for data from home and compare with others.
- Can we find out how much energy your mobile phone/game console/pc/laptop consumes? How? Test with the energy metre.
- Do you think that is a lot/little energy? Why?
- Could we find out how much energy our class/school consumes? And then how much that costs (annually)?
- Where/how could you find that information?
- Do you think it is necessary to consume less energy? Why? How?
Pupils are doing an internship to become energy detectives. They are going to look for energy guzzlers in the classroom/school and take a closer look at various aspects. They give each classroom a rating and advice with tips to reduce energy consumption.
1. Temperature
What types of thermometers are there? When do you use which one? What temperatures are measured in the different classrooms? Do they have to be the same everywhere? And at night? What about holidays?
Tip: A minimum-maximum thermometer is a useful tool to easily measure both day and night temperatures.
2. Standby power
What about the various devices (computers, printers, coffee maker, refrigerator, ...) in our classroom/school? How much do they consume? Are they left on day and night? What about during breaks? When they are off, do they not consume any energy anymore? Can we measure that?
Tip: You can usually borrow an energy metre (for free) from the municipality.
3. Lighting
What kind of lighting do we have in the different classrooms? How much would these lights consume? Per item? For the entire classroom? Aren't the lights burning unnecessarily in the hallways or toilets?
4. Daylight
Consider the classroom arrangement to make the best use of daylight. Where do we best set up the reading corner? What is the best place for left-handed people to sit? Are the windows clear? What colour should you paint the walls to reflect maximum daylight?
5. Ventilation
What is the best way to ventilate? Briefly during the break? Is it better to keep the door or a window to the corridor open during class? What do we do with the heater during ventilation?
Tip: Check with your municipal environmental department to see if you can borrow a CO2 metre.
- Teachers (of course) set a good example and ensure that lights are not left on unnecessarily or that the heating is at a reasonable level.
- Pupils apply the things they learn through the energy survey, communicate them to other classes and follow up on the agreements. They may want to keep track of metre readings.
- Organise chore days (together with the pupils!) for isolating heating pipes, installing draught strips, radiator foil...).
- Also involve the support staff in the energy project (turn off machines, switch off lights, adjust the heating or turn off devices...).
- The handyman/ handywoman can play a very crucial role. Make use of his/her expertise, have him/her work with the pupils.
- When planning structural measures, dare to ask for support from the parent committee, the school board, the school group, the municipality....
- Invite an expert (or visit one): a lighting store, a heating installer, a technical school that specialises in electricity and/or heating, an energy economist, someone from the electricity company, a do-it-yourself store, a house under construction (insulation!) ...
- Involve the (grand)parents in the project. Ask about their experiences. Make a connection between energy consumption at school and at home.
- Formulate a specific, measurable and achievable (SMART) goal. Communicate this at the start of the project through all channels, evaluate actions regularly and adjust if necessary. Set up a MOS party upon achievement of the set goal.
- Calculate (or have the pupils calculate) how many euros are saved by the actions.
- Have the pupils present their research, conclusions, and action proposals to the school management or the school board. Dare to ask for a clear commitment.
- A (class) puppet and/or play is always useful to introduce the theme in a fun way. It is best to have these return regularly so that the theme continues to live on at school.
- Make the plans known within the school group (and/or other schools you are in contact with). Exchange experiences. Organise a competition 'to save the most energy’ between different schools. Or join the climate gangs.
- Let the pupils keep track of measurement results in spreadsheets, tables and graphs, and visualise them with block towers, smileys, ... so that even the littlest ones understand.
- Together with the pupils, design and create a measurement tool that vividly illustrates the savings achieved.
- Inform your local authority (environmental department) of the plans and results. Frame this within the climate story (CO2 reduction).
The Trias Energetica model is a simple model to optimally tackle the energy problem:
- Reduce energy consumption by eliminating waste.
- Make maximum use of energy from renewable sources.
- Use fossil fuels as efficiently as possible to meet remaining energy needs.
A golden tip!
In several provinces, MOS provides an energy case free of charge. It contains a manual, information sheets, worksheets and numerous tools and instruments to carry out an energy survey at school together with the pupils.