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Activity Sheet 3
Electricity Saving Awareness
Key words and definitions for you to know
Awareness- the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of
events, objects or sensory patterns.
Blackout - The total loss of electric power supplied by the electric company.
Climate Change: A change in the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere that cause a
change in climate patterns such as rain cycles.
Global warming-increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface.
Pollution- the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes
instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living
organisms.
Wastage- loss, decrease, or destruction of something (as by use, decay, erosion, or
leakage); especially : wasteful or avoidable loss of something valuable.
Like to surf? Learn more about this topic at…….
The City of Cape Town’s electricity Savings Campaign
http://www.savingelectricity.org.za
eThekwini Municipality’s Electricity Savings Campaign
http://www.durban.gov.za/durban/government/energy/saving
The 49M Initiative
http://www.49million.co.za/about-49-million.aspx
Eskom school yard
http://www.eskom.co.za/c/article/293/school-yard/
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ACTIVITY 3A: ELECTRICITY SAVING ARTICLE/ADVERT/ POSTER/ PLACARD
.
Activity Instructions:
1. Listen to the ‘Electricity Facts’ introduction from your educator.
2. Find examples of electricity saving awareness posters,
advertisements and articles in local and national newspapers and
magazines at home and bring them in to class.
Exercise:
Choose 1 of the activities given here:
Develop and awareness raising and educational advertisement that lets the public
know about electricity use in their homes and communities. The advert should be the
size of 1 full page (A4) and should be informative and attractive to people who
might see it.
OR
Write a 3 paragraph article (with an introduction, body, and conclusion) about
electricity saving in your school or community for placement in the school
newspaper. Use the knowledge that you have already gained so far. Also research
some new facts about this topic.
OR
Design an informative poster or placard around energy saving for placement in your
school or home, the placard can be on one tip or a lot of tips.
Example of a
newspaper
advertisement
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Example of a poster
Why not use the following points as a guide to structuring your creative piece ( poster,
advert, article)
Mark this column with an ‘X’ if you have included this suggestion
Ensure that you include information about saving and why it is important.
Make sure that there is a clear heading to your work and make sure this is
underlined.
Make sure that paragraphs have a topic sentence (a sentence that
introduces the paragraph).
Make sure that you have good sentence construction.
Make sure that your spelling, grammar, and punctuation (commas, full
stops, capital letters at the beginning of a sentence and for proper nouns
etc.) are correct. Make sure that all your facts and information is correct.
Provide a short reference list showing the source from which you got your
information.
Provide contact information in case your reader would like to receive
further information on electricity saving.
Activity Sheet
X
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Group Work:
In your groups look at each other’s work and say what you like about it. Are all
the things to look out for under point 4 above included? Would you read the
advertisement or article, or look at the poster if you saw it in a newspaper or magazine or
posted on the wall? How could it be improved?
As a class discuss the following question:
• Do you think public education on electricity saving is important? Do you think there
should be more television, newspaper and magazine programmes about electricity
saving?
Take it Home:
Why not put up a copy of you advertisement, poster or article in your home or
community for other people to read so that they know more about electricity
saving and why it is important? Why not submit your article to the school and local
newspapers, WESSA or the City’s Yes program.
Contact details:
WESSA (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.)
31 The Sanctuary, off Pollsmoor Road. Kirstenhof, 7945
Tel +27 (021) 7011397
Fax +27 (021) 7011399
Email: admin@wessa.co.za
http://www.wessa.org.za/index.php/WC/Western-Cape.html
WESSA’s Envirokids publication
http://www.wessa.org.za/index.php/Publications/Envirokids.html
Youth Environmental School (YES) Programme
Ms Lindie Buirski
Tel: +27 (0)21 487 2839
Fax: +27 (0)21 487 2255
E-mail: lindie.buirski@capetown.gov.za
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagemen
t/yes/Pages/default.aspx
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ACTIVITY 3B: SCHOOL ELECTRICITY ALERT
Activity Instructions:
1. Listen to the ‘Electricity Facts’ introduction from your educator.
These are the tips promoted by the City of Cape Town,
http://www.savingelectricity.org.za No-cost changes
Easy-to-do changes that are the foundation of Smart Living
Turn your geyser temperature down to 60°C
Hot water accounts for almost 40% of your electricity bill. Turning
down the thermostat by a degree or two will save you 5% on
your electricity bill. In most cases, the thermostat is located in the
little cover over the electrical element of the geyser. Switch off
the electricity circuit at the mains, undo the cover, and turn
down the thermostat. Or hire a plumber/electrician to help you.
Use less hot water
Take a short shower instead of a bath. Only fill the kettle with as
much water as you need. Wash a full load of dishes, rather than
one dish at a time. Wash clothing in cold water.
Switch off equipment when not in use
Turn appliances off at the wall rather than leaving them on
standby as this can still draw about 6% or more electricity.
Reduce pool pump operating hours
Drop pool pump operating hours to 6 hours in summer and 4
hours in winter. Clean filters regularly, and consider a pool cover
and turning off the pump entirely in winter.
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Reduce excessive heating or cooling
Space heating in winter is a big power ‘guzzler’, and the same
for summer cooling. Use oil heaters with thermostats and avoid
under-floor heating. Wear warmer clothing. In summer use a fan
rather than air-conditioning.
Low-cost options
Investing under R1 000
Simple, cost-effective improvements
Install an efficient showerhead
Cape Town water bylaws limit shower flow rates to no more than
10 litres per minute. To test this at home, hold a bucket under the
showerhead for 12 seconds. If there is more than 2 litres in the
bucket, then your showerhead is inefficient. A good, modern
product will save both water and electricity without
compromising your shower experience, and the saving pays
back the investment within a few months.
Insulate the geyser with a geyser blanket and insulate hot water
pipes leading from the geyser to maximise heat retention.
Install efficient lighting
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) use 6 times less power than
old incandescent bulbs, and last much longer. Note that CFLs
contain small amounts of harmful chemicals, so it’s best to take
them to safe ‘drop off’ points at retailers like Woolworths or Pick
‘n Pay. There are also other kinds of efficient lighting on the
market (e.g. LEDs), which are getting cheaper and more
effective all the time. Of course, switching off lights in
unoccupied rooms is an obvious way to save.
Invest-to-save options
Investments that create greater long-term savings
Install a solar water heater. It uses the sun to heat up your water,
saving 25% or more on your electricity bill. With rising electricity
tariffs and subsidies from Eskom, the payback period is no more
than 3.5 to 5 years.
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Insulate the ceiling
Ceiling insulation can keep the home 5°C warmer in winter, and
10°C cooler in summer. More comfortable indoor temperatures
mean less need for electrical heating and cooling, with savings
of up to 65%. Insulating other parts of the house also helps (e.g.
stopping heat loss through windows, walls or under doors), but
the highest savings are from ceiling insulation.
Exercise:
Divide yourselves into groups. Using the tips and icons developed by the
City of Cape Town for the Electricity Savings Campaign, each group must
choose an icon/ tip and develop a ‘School Electricity Alert’ campaign
around the icon/ tip. As a group, develop a poster and 5 minute skit based on the
icon/ tip you choose for presentation in assembly (a ‘skit’ is a short play). The class
can present 1 skit based on a icon/ tip in assembly over a period of weeks until all of
the tips are covered- so that you can educate your school mates on electricity
saving. The posters you develop can be shown to the school in assembly (along with
the short skit) and then can be put up at the school. Each icon will be the theme for
the week.
The picture adjacent shows an example of a ‘School
Electricity Alert’ campaign poster that you can develop.
You should use bold colors and headings. You will notice the
keyword for this poster is ‘Press’. A keyword is a word that
gives an overall idea of what something is about.
Take it Home:
• Stick up a copy of these icons in your home for other people to see
so that they know how to save electricity.
Activity Sheet