Problem:
Newspaper advertisements and articles often discuss the energy savings features of small appliances, furnaces, and air conditioners. Articles sometime appear that deal with electric energy concerns. How can you use ads and articles to learn more about electric energy and appliances?
Activity:
1. Collect ads and articles from newspapers and magazines that advertise or discuss electric energy or electric appliances.
2. For each article or ad collected, write a sentence or two about:
a. the problem or issue discussed
b. the use for the items in ads
3. Share your findings with your classmates.
Answer these questions:
1. What problems or issues were discussed the most in newspaper articles about electric energy?
2. Study the advertisements. What statements were made about energy efficiency and the use of the advertised device?
3. What things in the articles or advertisements might discourage the efficient use of electric energy?
4. How do you think newspaper articles and advertisements might affect our efficient use of electricity?
Teacher Notes
Objective:
Students will use the research process to locate information regarding energy efficiency of products advertised in media sources.
Materials:
Consumer magazines
Newspapers
Posterboard
Markers
Video camera
Teaching Strategies:
1. Have students do activity and answer questions on student sheet.
2. Have students decide on a product they would like to purchase.
3. They should research the different brands and types of this product. They could use Consumer Report, Consumer Digest, and other consumer magazines to find the most energy efficient product. They should then write a persuasive paragraph explaining why this product is the best product to buy.
4. Students should create an advertisement for this product. They should use some of the data gained during their investigation. They could also make a commercial using their advertisement, video tape it and share it with the class.
Extended Activity:
Visit an appliance store. Have store personnel explain energy efficiency ratings of appliances.
Directions:
On the next page you will find a survey. Follow these directions to complete the Home Appliance Survey.
1. In Column 1 of the survey chart, you and an adult write the number of each kind of appliance you have in your home.
2. In Column 2, have the adult list the total number of appliances they had in their home at your age.
3. Put a circle around each appliance you feel is absolutely necessary. The adult should put a star next to each appliance they feel is necessary.
4. In the box below, list the top 5 choices for both.
Most Necessary Appliances
Student
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Adult
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Think It Over:
1. What did you learn from the Home Appliance Survey?
2. How did you decide that some items were absolutely necessary?
3. Why might some consider an appliance necessary while others could live without it?
4. Continued growing demand for electricity might make it necessary for utilities to build more electric generating plants. The cost of electricity might rise to pay for the generating plants. Using electricity efficiently can cut down on the demand for more electrical energy. Suggest ways for using home appliances more efficiently.
Home Appliance Survey
After each appliance listed below, write the number of appliances you have in your home now and then write the number of appliances an adult had in his or her home when they were your age.
Air conditioner
Air conditioner, Home Unit(s)
Automatic Bag Sealer, Electric
Automatic egg cooker
Automatic Timer, 24 hr
Battery charger, Electric
Blanket, Electric
Blender
Broiler, Electric
Bun Warmer, Electric
Calculator with Adapter
Camcorder
Can Opener, Electric
Coffeemaker
Computer
Clock, Electric
Crepe Maker
Defroster for Refrigerator
Dehumidifier
Dishwasher
Disposer, Food Waste
Door Bell
Drill, Electric
Dryer, Clothes
Fan, Electric
Floor Waxer
Fondue Pot, Electric
Food Dehydrator
Food Processor
Food Slicer, Electric
Food Warmer Tray
Foot Whirlpool, Electric
Freezer, Independent Unit
Fryer, Deep Fat, Electric
Frypan, Electric
Furnace
Garage Door, Electric
Grill, Outdoor
Hair Curlers, Electric
Hair Curling Iron, Electric
Hair Dryer
Heater, Room, Electric
Heating Pad
Hedge Trimmers, Electric
Hot Pot, Electric
Humidifier
Ice Cream Maker, Electric
Ice Crusher, Electric
Iron, Regular or Steam
Knife, Electric
Knife Sharpener, Electric
Lamp, heat
Lamp, sun
Lawn Edger & Trimmer, Electric
Lawn Mower, Electric
Lights, Indoor, Night, Ceiling
Lights, Outdoor, Lawn
Meat Grinder, Electric
Mirror, Lighted
Mixer, Electric
Oven, Dutch, Electric
Oven, Microwave
Oven, Toaster
Pencil Sharpener, Electric
Popcorn Popper, Electric
Printer
Projector, Movie
Projector, Slide
Radio, Clock
Radio, Standard
Range, Kitchen (Electric/gas)
Razor, Electric
Record/CD Player
Refrigerator
Rotisserie
Router, Electric
Rug Shampooer
Sander, Electric
Saw, Electric
Sewing Machine
Slow Cooker, Electric
Soldering Kit, Electric
Tape Recorder, Electric
Television
Toaster
Train Set, Electric
Typewriter, Electric
Vacuum Cleaner
Vaporizer
VCR
Video Game Player
Waffle Iron
Washer, Clothes
Water Heater
Water Pik
Whirlpool, Electric
Wok, Electric
Other
Teacher Notes
Objectives:
1. Students will become aware of what appliances they have in their home.
2. Students will compare appliances they have to those the adults had in their home at their age.
3. Students and adults will each identify and prioritize the top 5 appliances that they feel are absolutely necessary.
Materials:
Home Appliance Survey
Teaching Strategies:
1. Send Home Appliance Survey home to complete with an adult.Extended Activities:
1. Develop persuasive speeches to choose absolutely necessary appliances.
2. Graph survey results on a bar graph.
3. Visit a department store to find out what is the most popular appliance purchased.
4. Use catalogs, magazines, and advertisements for cutting out pictures of appliances that you feel are absolutely necessary and the adult feels are absolutely necessary. Divide your cut-out pictures into two groups: those the adult feels are absolutely necessary and those you feel are necessary. Use your survey sheet. Make a collage or mobile using your pictures.
Introduction:
The most important form of energy is that which powers our brains and muscles and warms our bodies. It comes from food.Food is produced by solar energy, supplemented only by the muscle energy of humans and animals in most of the world. But in the United States more than anywhere else, fossil fuel energy extends and supplements what farmers can produce individually.
The number of people fed by one U.S. agricultural worker is 56; the world average is less than a tenth of that, or 5.1 persons fed by each farmer. The main reason is energy-intensive use of machinery, fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.
History:
One hundred twenty years ago, most Americans lived on energy self-sufficient farms. Woodlots supplied fuel for heating and cooking. Pastures provided energy for horses, mules, or oxen that, in turn, powered treadmills, plows, and farm wagons. Human labor and hand tools supplied the means for other work like feeding, milking, cutting, and threshing.
Kerosene lanterns were the first fossil fuel consumers on most farms. Some families were already using them in 1860.
The next step in dependency on fossil fuel increased farm productivity. Bulky stream tractors that ate coal and kerosene appeared on the scene in the twentieth century. By the end of World War I, some farmers had replaced their horses with a tractor and a Maxwell Motors truck. These mechanical horses demanded another kind of fuel -- gasoline.
By the 1930's, many farmers were starting to use electricity. At first barnyard "wind changers" were the providers. By hooking his windmill to a generator, a farmer could convert the mechanical energy of the wind-turned blades into electricity for his home. But cheap and abundant supplies of coal, petroleum, and natural gas, as well as new hydro-electric dams on many of the nation's rivers, helped electrical power networks spread from coast to coast. Most windmills were abandoned in favor of the inexpensive convenience of a steady supply of commercial electricity.
Of course, some of these savings are offset by the increased use of herbicides, which are also made from fossil fuel, and by lower rates of seed germination. But no-till methods are constantly improving and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that by 2010, over 90% of all U.S. row crops will be planted using this method. This alone would mean big energy savings on the farm.
Many energy alternatives for the future -- solar, efficient wind power, bioconversion -- are still in the early stages of development, adoption, and use. Until they are more readily available, many farmers save energy by making more productive use of current resources. Typical conservation measures include: insulating barn ceilings; clustering chicken brooders closer together to cut heat loss; sealing air leaks around barn and shed windows and doors; making fewer trips in the farm vehicles; using lower wattage light bulbs; planting windbreaks, turning off any electrical equipment when it's not wholly essential. These and many other simple measures can save both energy and money.
Tomorrow's farm will probably not be like the small and self-sufficient homestead of the Civil War era, but it won't be like today's fossil fuel intensive farm either. Energy-aware managers will orient buildings to the sun and/or protect them from the wind and cold with earth berms. Devices like solar heating systems, solar stills, streamlined windmills, and biogas converters may become commonplace. And, considering traditional human ingenuity, there may be inventions we haven't even considered.
Energy and Agriculture
You have just been hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an energy expert. Your responsibility is to educate the public about the past, present, and future uses of energy on our farms. Please circle the topic your group has chosen.
Past uses of energy on farms.
Present uses of energy on farms.
Future uses of energy on farms.
The following products may be used in your seminar. Discuss them with your group and circle the product or products that your group chooses to use.
Poster
Play
Pamphlet
Rap
Game Show
Talk Show
Travel Guide of a Farm
Other options approved by your boss
Teacher Notes
Activity in Brief:
The students examine information and create informative products to share with the class concerning the history of agri-energy, present uses of energy on the farm, and energy options on the farms of the future.
Objective:
Students will understand the changing relationship between energy and agriculture.
Materials Needed:
Resources (books, magazines, agriculture experts)
Teaching Strategies:
1. Read and discuss "Energy and Agriculture" as a whole class.
2. Generate a classroom list of possible resources for further information.
3. Form student groups and determine the focus of their research: past, present, or future.
4. Discuss options for group products and criteria for evaluation of products (Rubric).
5. Students do research and prepare products during the next few days.
6. Students present information to the class.
7. As student groups present, the rest of the class journals about what they learn from each presentation.
Suggested Evaluation:
See the rubric and student journal sheet.
Energy and Agriculture
Student Rubric
Energy and Agriculture
Student Journal Sheet
What I learned about energy and agriculture in the past:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What I learned about energy and agriculture in the present:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What I learned about energy and agriculture in the future:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
| Table of Contents | Previous Section |