3 .Exploring energy crisis – TWENTY –TWENTY collaborative project with WINTERBOURNE (RIDINGS HIGH )school UK
When Emily Connors and Katie Coleborn gap year students requested the permission to come and teach in Bal Bharati Public School Dwarka , teachers coordinators in both the schools Ms Sandhya Kakkar and Mr Rob Ford thought this was an excellent opportunity to explore energy perceptions of pupils in both the schools through a projects named Twenty – Twenty ..Students in both the schools were given a set of 20 questions to gauge the understanding about energy consumption pattern and impact of energy crisis . Students sitting across tables were amazed at the gap in perception across continents .Some of the starling findings of the project were – the main consumer of electricity in Indian homes were cooling system as compared to UK homes were the heating system consumed maximum power, although when they compared the number of hours for electricity used it nearly amounted to same .While comparing the nature of food consumption Indian pupils felt that their food habits were more energy intensive as compared to those of their peers from UK. This is what Drishti Sagar of class 10 C one of the participants in the project had to say…
Twenty – twenty -THE ENERGY Project
The school had initiated a project Twenty – Twenty “ based on the comparison of energy consumption patterns in India and UK in collaboration with Ridings High School UK
The program constituted three main criteria:-
First and foremost being the worksheet regarding electricity bill propagation in our homes. The worksheet comprised of various appliances that we use in our homes, their number and the duration for which they are run. It was an arduous job as it involved various calculations.
Secondly, we also had a descriptive and noteworthy session where we drew out inferences between the energy consumption pattern in India and UK .It was found that because of the geographical area and cold climate, there was a higher energy consumption of central heating systems that worked for around 24hrs. a day and continuously for 7-8 months!
We also found that most of the energy in UK is generated from Tidal Energy whereas in India we have it from Thermal Power Stations .
Interestingly, we also came to know that in UK there are no power cuts whereas we have it for around 1-2hrs. during winters and 3-4hrs. during summers for a typical person living in urban areas.
Just as we use CFLs in India they use low energy bulbs and very less tube lights.
Last but not the lest we conducted a debate on whether ‘Nuclear Energy Is A Viable Form Of Energy?’ Emily and Katie were quite impressed by the depth opinions of different students who took part in the debate.
Quite a lot of students were in favor of the Nuclear Deal as it is the only option left after electricity generation from hydro energy, tidal energy, solar energy etc.
However, the greatest threat in using nuclear energy is the production of radio-active wastes and lack of dumping grounds for toxic substances .
The discussion was quite informative for them as well as for us as it influenced the mutual learning and understanding between both the nations.
DRISHTI SAGAR
X-B
Summarizing in the words of Mr Rob Ford. Head of International Dept/IB at Ridings High School
“It has been a life changing experience for Emily and Katie and they have a real passion for India now and a bigger and better perspectives about life and world “
The girls Aishwarya and Drishti Sagar of class 9 who hosted Emily and Katie learnt something valuable for a life time
“During these days we developed a long lasting relation with the two girls Emily and Katie, where we came to know a lot about each other. We comprehended countless things about the lifestyle of peers in the UK .We came to know that in UK from the age of thirteen only children start doing part-time jobs which make them more confident and independent. Not only this but also compared about the facilities provided to the students in the school .
In short, this experience of intermingling with two girls from the UK was very enjoyable and very useful , whose results are nothing but a ongoing friendship which are sweet and lingering memories that we all would cherish throughout our life.
AISHWARYA NARAYANA
X – C
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