Connecting Experience

Goal 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy
Our reliance on unclean energy to fuel our lives means that climate change is speeding up and millions suffer from unnecessary health conditions. But it’s not only about switching to clean and renewable energy, over one billion people don’t have electricity in the first place.
Tasks
Renewable Energy
Wake up points
Age Group: 7+ | Amount of people: 10+ |
Time: 20 – 30 minutes
Objective:
To understand how renewable energy works.
Material:
6 small balls or bean bags
Instructions:
Split the group into 2 teams, one is team renewable energy and the other is non-renewable.
The renewable team gets 1 ball, and the other gets the remaining 5.
The teams need to get their ball from one end of the hall to the other, without touching it with their hands or letting it touch the floor.
Each time the ball gets to the opposite end of the hall, the team gets 1 point.
Round 1 – First team to 5 points wins
Round 2 – Team with the most points after 2 mins wins
Rules
Renewable team
- This team has only 1 ball to use, when it gets to the other end of the room, they run with the ball back to the beginning
- If the team drops the ball, they can pick it up, but it must go back to the beginning
Non-Renewable team
- Has 5 balls to use, when it gets to the other end of the room it stays there, they cannot use the same ball more than once
- If the ball hits the ground, they can no longer use it
Debrief:
- Which way of playing did you think was easier? Why?
- Which way of playing do you think is better? Why?
- Can you name some sources of renewable energy?
- Can you name some sources of non-renewable energy?
- Do you think it’s important to use renewable sources?
Remembering Energy
Wake up points
Age Group: 11+ | Amount of people: 10+ |
Time: 40 minutes
Objective:
To learn about different types of energy.
Material:
A set of energy cards, a timer
Instructions:
- 1st round: the players can say as many words as they need, they can only skip 3 cards
- 2nd round: only 1 word per card is allowed. They can change cards as much as they want
- 3rd round: no words allowed; they need to mime the word. They can change cards as much as they want. Divide the group into teams. Each team must nominate a player. Each player draws a card. Players must try to communicate what is on their card without saying the word or item printed on it. Teams must guess the word or item on their players card. There are 3 rounds, with the cards staying the same for each round.
Energy Battle
Look around points
Age Group: 7+ | Amount of people: 10+ |
Time: 20 – 30 minutes
Objective:
To learn about the different sources of clean Energy.
Material:
An open space, one item that you can easily carry (neckerchief, hat etc.)
Instructions:
Divide the group into two teams.
Each in the team is given the name of a type of renewable energy:
- Solar energy
- Wind energy
- Hydro power
- Biomass
- Geothermal energy
- Tidal energy
- Water turbine energy
Depending on the size of the group, team members can have more than one type of energy each or create more than two teams.
The teams face each other with the neckerchief (or item) in the middle.
When the leader calls one of the types of energy, the participant who is that energy runs into the middle to try to collect the item and run back to their team. If they get back to their team they win a point, but if the player from the other team tags them before they get back, they other team get a point.
As the game goes on, the leader can call the names by saying phrases like:
- All the energy that needs water
- The energy that needs a star to work
- Fire is part of this energy
Debrief:
- Which energy do you think is the best for your area?
- Do you use one (or more) of them in you daily life?
Energy Experiments
Look around points
Age Group: 11+ | Amount of people: 3+ |
Time: 3 hours
Objective:
To learn about the different sources of clean Energy.
Material:
Differs by activity, see below
Instructions:
There are five main categories of Clean Energy.
- Solar energy: Energy from solar radiation. It only works when there is sun, but it can be used as an individual source of energy in your home and on a bigger scale
- Wind power: Uses the kinetic energy of the wind. It makes electricity when it’s coupled with a generator. It only works when there is enough wind
- Hydroelectric energy: this category groups together all types of energy that uses water as sources of energy. It is used for large scale production
- Biomass: it’s an organic matter origin energy. The most common type is the burning of wood. Biomass can only be considered as a renewable energy source if its regeneration is higher than its consumption
- Geothermal energy: the extraction of energy from the earths crust. It is one of the only types of energy that is not weather dependant
Through these scientific experiments, the participants are going to discover each one of the 5 categories. If you have enough leaders and materials, divide the group into 5 teams and have each group try each experiment. Alternatively, do the experiments one by one as a group.
We recommend starting with the Sun experiment as some time is required to see the results.
Sun Power:
Materials: water, bowl, black paint, mirror, can of soda, thermometer
Instructions:
- Ask the group to create the best method to make the water hot
- The “better” method is to paint the can black and put the mirror above it
- Take the temperature of the water at the beginning and ask them to check on it every 30 minutes
Geothermal Energy:
Material: chalk (red if possible; you’ll need about 1/8 = 5 grames); 100 ml sunflower oil; flat-heat candle; clear glass container; tripod
Instructions:
- Grind the red chalk to a powder and add it to 20 ml of sunflower oil
- Carefully pour this coloured oil into the bottom of your container
- gently pour the rest of the oil along the wall of the container
- let it sit until both the oils are settled, with the coloured oil underneath the natural oil
- Put the container on the tripod and light the candle underneath
Video
Biomass:
Material: glass bottle, plant matter eg. leaves, vegetable peeling, source of heat (radiator or sun)
Instructions:
- Fill the glass bottle halfway with moist plant matter from the garden
- Seal the bottle
- Place the bottle near a source of gentle heat (sun, radiator) and let it ferment
- After 5 to 7 days, open the bottle, taking care to keep it away from any flame or heat source and not to point the bottle towards anyone’s face
- When opening the bottle, you will hear a slight hissing sound and a foul odour will be released: the organic matter has fermented and biogas under pressure has formed!
- Repeat the experiment with other kinds of biomass, such as leftovers from dinner
Hydroelectric Energy:
Material: plastic bottle, straw (3 short pieces), water, bowl, string, modelling clay, somewhere to hang the bottle
Instructions:
- Make 3 holes in the bottom of the plastic bottle
- Put the half straw in each hole
- Seal well to make it watertight
- Hang the bottle above the bowl
- Put some water in the bottle
- Watch what happens!
Video
Wind Power
Material: a balloon, old CD, a bottle cap, Table or flat surface
Instructions:
- Take the bottle cap and make some small holes in it
- Glue that cap to the CD
- Inflate the balloon
- Put the balloon on the cap
- Put the disc and the balloon on the ground. The air from the balloon must escape under the disc (between the disc and the ground)
- The hovercraft moves smoothly until the balloon is completely deflated
Video
Examine your Energy
ACT points
Age Group: 7+ | Amount of people: 3+ |
Time: 1 hour
Objective:
To learn how to reduce their consumption of energy.
Material:
Paper, poster, pens, art supplies
Instructions:
In small groups, give participants the task of coming up with 3 actions they could do to reduce their energy consumption.
Have each group should present their ideas, and as a group choose the ones that they think are achievable.
Create a diagram for each idea and display them on the wall or together on a big poster.
Each participant chooses one or two actions to focus on until the next meeting and places their name beside that goals image.
At the next meeting, have participants discuss whether they were successful or not. If they think that action is now part of their daily routine, they can pick a new one for the next week, or they can try again with the same task. Continue until everyone has successfully completed all the actions.
House Checklist
ACT points
Age Group: 11+ | Amount of people: 3+ |
Time: 1 hour
Objective:
To check their energy consumption and try to reduce it.
Material:
Internet/access to a library
Instructions:
Have participants work together to create a check list of actions they could take to reduce the energy they waste.
For example: not turning on the light until it’s dark, putting on another layer of clothing instead of turning up the heating, checking and sealing any drafts.
Once participants have created their checklist, they can use it to check their home and make changes based on it. They can talk with their parents to see if their actions have any impact on the amount of energy being used in their home.