1. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity Pay attention! This is really terribly important! Lots of things are powered by electricity, but it can be dangerous. We need to know how to use electrical items safely. Does that mean I can’t play with my scalectrix any more?

2. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity They are on the poles and pylons that bring electricity to our homes. This is called MAINS electricity. Where do you see these signs?

3. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity What do you know about the mains electricity that comes into our homes? It is produced in p _ _ _ _ s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Electricity from the mains or national grid is very dangerous if not handled properly. Coal fired power station Gas fired power station o w e r t a t i o n s

4. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity Look at these pictures. 1. Which things use mains electricity? 2. How can you tell? 3. What do you think powers the other items? AB C D KettleTelevision Lamp Toaster They have a plug attached to put into the wall socket. Batteries

5. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity Items that use electricity from the mains Items that use electricity from batteries So, all of these things use a less powerful source of electricity. What is it? Look around the room. What can you see that uses electricity from the mains? Which things use electricity from batteries?

6. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity Some batteries can be recharged using mains electricity. What do you think happens to batteries when they no longer produce electricity? Many batteries are thrown away. They could be recycled. What would happen then? The recycled materials could be used again.

7. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity Coal and gas fired power stations produce a form of pollution called carbon dioxide. Some sources of electricity don’t cause pollution. What do you think they are? A BC Power from the Sun called ‘solar power’ Power from the WIND called ‘wind power’ Power from WATER called ‘hydro power’

8. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity These are mini solar panels, also called photovoltaic cells (or PV cells for short). Just like the ones you’ve seen on the roof, they produce electricity. What do you think makes them work? They use Sunlight and convert it into electricity.

9. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity By themselves these small PV cells are not very powerful. But if cells are joined together they produce more electricity. The positive terminal of one cell is joined to the negative terminal of the next cell. What do you need to make a circuit using a battery or using PV cells? Can you draw some diagrams of circuits that would work and some that wouldn’t work?

10. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity You can use PV cells to make circuits, just like you use a battery. They produce the same type of electricity. Try making the propeller spin using a battery. Then try making the propeller spin using a pair of photovoltaic cells. Where will you need to be when you use the PV cells? Will it matter what the weather is like?

11. What size is your carbon footprint? Working with electricity switch (closed) This PowerPoint and lesson are based on work by Ian Mitchell, The Green Egg Company, developed & edited by Amie Andrews for TLCP and Ali Ross, Sundog Energy. battery bulb switch (open) PV module (solar panel) Can you match the labels to the electrical symbols? Can you use the symbols to draw circuits?