Mebane-MLKschool

**Ms. Mebane, Martin Luther King Jr. (PUSD)**
Your Task: Use your classroom combined data to answer the questions below to share in how to save the world.

1. What were the biggest vampires you found? // The biggest energy vampire was the water cooler costing over $1.50 per day. An electric toothbrush was also recorded as using similar amounts of energy in stand-by mode but the class decided that this was incorrect. During data collection, the toothbrush was most likely charging and not in stand-by mode. We will revisit the data collection. // // The water cooler in stand-by mode still kept time and kept water cool. The coffee pot and microwave both had clocks which made them use more energy than most other appliances in stand-by mode. // // Scholars agree that it is important to unplug all appliances when they are not in use because it will save money and play a part in preserving energy sources for the future. // // Martin Luther King Jr. Junior High sixth grade scholars would like to disclose that the information presented needs to be retested at least three times to be dependable sources of evidence. //

2. How much money could your class save each month by unplugging vampires? // The data revealed that __if__ all of the appliances were in the same household __then__ unplugging each of these appliances would result in savings of $166.76 each month. //

// During discussion scholars thought that it would be worthwhile to get a more accurate number by completing this data set in each individual household over a three day cycle. They want to find relationships between energy vampires to see if any engineering changes could occur. //

3. How much CO2 would be reduced if your class unplugged the vampires each month? // The average pounds of CO2 that would be reduced by __the class__ if all of the energy vampires in the study were unplugged when they were not in use would be 854.7 pounds of CO2 per 33 6th grade scholar (33 is the average amount of scholars in each of my sixth grade science classes. Each individual contributes 25.9 pounds of CO2 each month by keeping appliances plugged in when they are not in use. //

4. What was the most surprising thing you found while studying this standby power unit? // Scholars decided that there were no true surprises during The Standby Power Unit. Most scholars thought that as long as something was plugged in there is energy being used. //

// Through discussion it was revealed that most of the scholars had no true idea of how much money is paid towards their electricity bill each month. Once they learned how much money could be saved if things were unplugged when they are not in use they felt compelled to have discussions with their parents. //

// One scholar decided that having the time on the microwave and coffee maker is not important because most people wear a watch or have access to their cellular phones while in the kitchen. Another scholar suggested putting all of the vampires on an outlet strip to easily turn off each time no one was in the kitchen. //

// Some scholars decided that they would discuss unplugging televisions, game systems, and DVD players but worried that DVRs would not function properly if everything was unplugged and I agreed. //

// More questions were raised and hopefully natural inquisition will promote more research. //

Attach your classroom spreadsheet used for these calculations.

Additional Documents created by Ms. Mebane's class.