5 – Introduction: fuels and energy usage
Allow about 10 mins
This section can be studied at home or school. In total it should take up to 1.5 hours.
Course requirements
This is part of the blended course, this topic can be studied at any time.
Overview
One thing we sometimes struggle to do is to make our stories relevant to students. Hopefully, the topic of energy and power has many links to students’ day-to-day lives, and we can help them make these connections.
- Saving money and making your home comfortable through insulation, efficiency and sensible energy choices.
- Helping the world to combat climate change, for example in food and transport choices.
- Making sensible decisions about health and diet to improve welfare.
- Looking at alternatives to petrol and diesel vehicles, and seeing how driving habits can decrease emissions on the road.
The following is the start of a reality check news story from the BBC:
“Climate change: Is the UK on track to meet its targets?
The UK has committed to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Net zero is the point at which the country is taking as much of these climate-changing gases out of the atmosphere as it is putting in.
As part of this promise, the government has a target to cut emissions by 78% by 2035, compared with 1990 levels.”
Here are some other recent stories
Households can replace old gas boilers with heat pumps and will receive a £5,000 grant to help.
All new cars to be electric by 2030.
One of our aims should be to help students to make sense of the news, to separate out the truth from the spin, to understand the relevance to them and to help them to understand the benefits/drawbacks to the different technological solutions that are proposed.
This module looks at a range of these topics, giving a flavour for the sort of discussions you can have with students.
Progression
Key terminology
A kilojoule is a measure of energy that is used to quantify the chemical store of energy in food. A 40g Mars Bar contains around 758 kJ. UK food labels also include energy in kilocalories, and this is discussed in more detail later.
A kilocalorie is a measure of energy that is used to quantify the chemical store of energy in food. is how much energy is required to raise the temperature of of water by , and is about . A Mars Bar contains around (). To add confusion, nearly all the time that people working with food or exercise refer to a calorie, they are actually referencing a kilocalorie!
A kilowatt-hour () is the unit used to measure energy for a domestic customer. It is exactly as described – it is the amount of energy used by a power source of in .
Appliance efficiency is rated from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). Less efficient devices are being phased out and replaced by more efficient devices, for example LED bulbs (A) instead of filament bulbs (D). More efficient appliances sometimes cost more, but their running costs are lower.
Payback time is the time taken before an appliance’s cost has been recovered by reduced running costs – usually measured in years.
A heat pump transfers thermal energy between the inside and outside of a house, which can significantly reduce the amount of electricity used in heating/cooling your home.
Activities
| Task title | Approximate study time (mins) | Outcomes |
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10 |
Understanding of this topic's content and place in the curriculum. |
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10 |
The energy in food – teaching students about energy values in the ‘real-world’. |
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10 |
Powering a home – teaching students about energy values in the ‘real-world’. |
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10 |
Running a vehicle – teaching students about energy values in the ‘real-world’. |
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10 |
Test your understanding of fuels and energy usage |