Students´prior knowledge

No particular prior knowledge is necessary for this group work.

Learning objectives

The students will:

• know how much energy is needed in a private household.
• know that private and public transportation requires energy.
• recognize that artificial lighting accounts for a significant portion of electricity costs.
• become aware of the extent to which communication consumes energy.
• learn about options for saving energy in the listed areas.

In addition, the students will hone their skills in conducting research, working with sources of material and communicating.

Motivation

Before the students start on the work assignments, they should be made aware that energy saving is an important and current topic. The class will already be familiar with some of the ecological and economical aspects. This topic is frequently discussed, especially in the media. A list of reasons why energy saving is necessary and sensible is useful at the beginning of the group work. This list may include the following items:

• Costs for energy sources can be saved.
• Pollution of the environment is reduced.
• The availability of energy sources (fossil fuels) is limited.

Possible teaching plan

A minimum of two double teaching periods should be planned for the online research, question answering and the discussion in the class.

Various areas of the students’ everyday lives are taken into consideration. This relevance to everyday life can also motivate the students to examine the topic.

Key elements of this work is the discussion of the results in front of the whole class. This ensures that all students learn something about each area. In addition, this allows the teacher to positively influence the students’ work attitude. Through the associated discussion of the appropriate way to present the results, the students will have an opportunity to reflect more intensively on their topic.

The topics are:

• Saving energy at home
• Saving energy in traffic and transportation
• Saving energy in lighting
• Saving energy in communication

The students will deal with specific questions on the topics.

Possible materials: The students can gather the information on the individual topics through online research.