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4 to 8 (middle school)
math, energy conservation
approximately 2 class periods
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Using Edison's electrification of Wall Street in 1882, this activity asks students to consider several things: the importance of electricity and energy in their lives, the costs of that energy, and the importance of conserving energy. It asks students to learn how much energy their family uses, what the cost of energy is, and how much their family would save if various conservation measures were taken.
The activity is divided into five steps: 1) focusing on energy use; 2) researching energy use; 3) calculating energy costs and usage; 4) researching conservation measures; and 5) researching and calculating conservation savings.
Begin by having students read the articles "Bright Lights, Big City" and "Dial "M" for Manhattan."
Hold a class discussion and ask students to consider the importance of electricity. Ask them to think about all things they use that require electricity, which ones existed in different forms before electricity was used to power them (for example, iceboxes instead of refrigerators), and which ones did not exist at all (radios). Have them list everything they use that requires electricity -- including things that use batteries. You might have them draw this list up on their own and have each of them read their list in class. You could also have them include how many hours they use each item per month.
Next, have your students think about how much energy they could save by doing without certain things. Tell them to eliminate every electrical thing they have -- leaving only three or four absolutely necessary ones. You might have them think of substitutes that don't require energy. An electric clock could be replaced by a wind-up one, for instance. Again, this can be done as an in-class discussion or as a take-home individual assignment.
This activity can be done either as an individual take-home exercise (with a lot of teacher guidance) or as an in-class activity.
- As noted above, this activity asks students to explore their family's energy usage, including finding out how much energy their family uses (for appliances, heating, and gasoline); ways they can cut back on energy usage (via cutting back use or finding more energy-efficient items); and the amount of energy and money their family will save by using appliances, cars, and heating systems less, or by using more efficient appliances or cars, or by putting in insulation.) You might want to review the activity to see the kinds of research and calculations the students are asked to do. You can then guide the students through these calculations step by step.
- If you want to make this a group activity rather than an individual one, you might ask the class to do the same kinds of research and calculations for the school. Your school's finance and maintenance departments can probably tell you how much electricity, heating oil, and gasoline are used by the school and how much is spent on these things. All of the calculations for the home exercise could be extrapolated for the classroom or school. (For a classroom, take the total energy use of the school and divide by the number of classes. This, of course, ignores electricity usage for general things, but it gives a rough idea of how much each class uses.)
- Students can then draw up a chart or table for their family's energy use and savings. These can then be posted in a prominent place in the classroom. Or, the students can work together to create a chart showing how much their school could save in energy and energy costs. This could be posted in a prominent place in the school.
- Finally, you can hold a contest. Which student was able to save the most energy and money for his or her family?
Unplugged!
For people in Edison's day, electricity was a wonderful thing. It promised to power farms and cities, cleanly and cheaply. In many ways, this promise has been fulfilled. Life is safer, more efficient, more enjoyable, and healthier with electricity. But with every step of progress, there is a cost. In the case of electricity, there are two big ones: pollution and wasted resources. The two, of course, are connected. The less energy we use, the less pollution we create. One hundred years ago, most people thought natural resources would last forever. And they hardly worried about pollution at all. We now know better. But will we change our energy-wasting ways?
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Early New York