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3-5 Lesson 4 - Reading Your Electric Meter Lessonplan PDF
3-5 Lesson 4 - Reading Your Electric Meter Lessonplan PDF
In Alaska, the price for a kilowatt-hour varies greatly depending on location and
fuel used for power generation, such as natural gas, hydropower, coal, or die-
sel. The average cost of electricity in the nation is about $0.12 / kWh, though
energy costs tend to be higher than elsewhere in the nation, especially in rural
Alaska. In 2000, the price of electricity was $0.216 / kWh in Unalaska, $0.396
/ kWh in Elim, and $0.464 / kWh in Cold Bay, and upwards of $0.75 / kWh in
some communities where fuel must be flown in.
Vocabulary List:
electric meter - a device that measures the amount of electricity used. Elec-
tric meters are used by electric companies to measure electricity use by their
customers for homes or businesses, and portable electric meters such as the
Kill-A-Watt meter can measure the electricity used by individual appliances.
energy - the ability of a system to do work; this might refer to either potential
or kinetic energy. Potential energy (stored energy) includes chemical, mechani-
cal, nuclear, and gravitational energy. Kinetic energy (motion energy) includes
radiant, thermal, motion, sound, and electrical energy.
kilowatt (kW) - a unit used to measure power. One kilowatt equals 1,000 watts
(W).
kilowatt-hour (kWh) - a unit used to measure energy. A kilowatt-hour is the
amount of energy used if you use 1000 watts for one hour and is equivalent to
3.6 million joules and 3,412 BTUs.
power - the rate at which work is performed or energy is converted; units of
power include both an amount of energy and a length of time.
scientific method (scientific process) - the methodological steps involved to
pursue knowledge which includes asking a question, conducting background
research, creating a hypothesis, collecting data through observations and/or an
experiment, analyzing the data, drawing a conclusion, and communicating the
results.
watt (W) - a unit used to measure power. One watt equals one joule per second
(j/s). A typical incandescent light bulb uses 60 W to keep the light bulb lit for
one hour.
Gear Up:
Lead a class discussion about home energy use; ask them what energy they use
during the day and if there are certain days their family might use more energy.
Record students’ responses on the board.
Reading an electric meter: Next, tell students that most homes have an elec-
tric meter outside so the utility company can track that home’s energy usage.
While meters at newer homes are likely to give a numeric or digital reading
output, older meters display with dials. This meter contains 4 dials which, from
left to right, represent the thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones:
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Reading your Electric Meter
The dials on the electric meter would read “3,256 kWh.” Notice that some of
the dials turn clockwise while some turn counter-clockwise. If the dial is in
between two numbers, always read the smaller number. To determine the
amount of energy used over a certain amount of time, subtract the original
reading from the most recent reading (and the units are in kWh).
If your classroom setup permits, have your class take the Energy Quiz Show
from http://www.fplsafetyworld.com/?ver=kkblue&utilid=fplforkids&id=16235. This
online quiz is a great way to get them thinking about different forms of energy
and where they come from.
Another Gear Up is to take pictures of different meters and at different times,
or to simply draw different meters on the board to have the students practice
reading meters.
Activity:
Explain to students they will use the scientific method to track their home’s
energy usage for a week and write a scientific report on their findings. They will
pick a time when they are home every day to read the electric meter at approxi-
mately 24-hour intervals to keep their observations consistent.
Hand out the Electric Meter Experiment worksheets and have them begin to fill
out the problem, hypothesis, materials, and procedure sections in class. They
will then collect the electric meter data over the course of the week and fill in
the remaining sections on the worksheet.
Extension:
1. Have groups of three or four students graph their results on the same graph
to illustrate 1) how data compared from household to household and 2) to il-
lustrate how multiple data sets can be compared on the same graph.
2. Invite a representative from the local utility to come speak to the class about
electrical use in the community or organize a field trip to a local power plant.
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Reading your Electric Meter
Additional Resources:
Alaska Electric Light and Power Company
This website provides an online guide to reading an electric meter.
http://www.aelp.com/energy/readyourmeter.htm
Energy Star
The Energy Star website has fun facts and lessons on everything related to
energy: what it is, where it comes from, types of energy, and how it can be
conserved.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=kids.kids_index