Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
Our principal noticed the school's electricity bill and asked a fair question: are we using what we need, or are some things running when nobody is using them? Lights in an empty room, a projector humming all lunch, chargers plugged in all weekend. None of it is anyone's fault, and all of it can be measured. Your team's job: audit our classroom's electricity use, and recommend one change that would save the most.
Teams of three, with jobs that rotate halfway: Spotter (finds lights and devices), Label reader (reads wattage with the flashlight), Recorder (fills in the table).
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Our audit
- Our biggest waster
- Our recommendation
- Poster sketch
- Exit ticket
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 / C$25 for all 4 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Collects data
- Estimates
- Recommends
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “Is our classroom wasting electricity?” take?
45–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
2 minutes a day for 3 days before the lesson: at recess, lunch and after school, note on a chart whether the lights, projector, computers and other devices are on while the room is empty. Ask the caretaker how many watts each ceiling light tube or fixture uses, or use the typical values in the lesson. Find where the wattage labels are on the projector, computers and chargers, and tilt any hidden ones yourself on lesson day.
What materials do I need?
Clipboard, pencil and student sheet; calculator; teacher's 3-day on/off chart; flashlight for reading labels in dark corners; chart paper and markers for posters. Cost: free (clipboards, pencils and calculators you already have).
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
NGSS (US): 5-ESS3-1 (partly) and 4-ESS3-1 (partly).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”, “Our audit”, “Our biggest waster”, “Our recommendation”, “Poster sketch” and “Exit ticket”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 (C$25) for all 4 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$79 (C$109) a year.