DID YOU KNOW Most families have over 2 battery-powered devices at home. That adds up to a whole lot of batteries! Find out how many batteries your family uses by doing a battery audit. TIP 1: DON T MISS THE HIDDEN BATTERIES! Many batterypowered devices may not look like they use batteries, but do! These devices sometimes have a plug-in charging device used to charge the battery (i.e. cordless phone base station). TIP 2: Some toys and throw-away devices (like single-use flashlights) are designed so that the batteries cannot be recharged, removed, or replaced. You will not be able to open these devices to count the batteries, so instead, research how many batteries along with what type are inside. Enter this information in the Home Chart. ECOKIDS BATTERY BUSTERS AUDIT STEP-BY-STEP STUDENT GUIDE BEFORE YOU GET STARTED: Tell an adult in your home that you are doing this audit, and ask them to be available for help. PUT YOUR DETECTIVE CAP ON AND LET S GET STARTED: 1. Take a copy of the Home Chart, and visit all the rooms in your home. Write down the names of every battery-powered device or toy present. Don t forget to look in drawers and closets, on shelves, and on the walls and ceilings too! 2. Look for and include all spare single-use and rechargeable batteries in your home that are waiting to be used. 3. Ask an adult to help with opening the battery cases, have them TURN OFF or UNPLUG each device BEFORE you look inside to get the following information: how many, what type and what size batteries? 4. Enter this information in the columns of the Home Chart. 5. Close up each device, and remember to turn it back on or plug it in once you re finished! 6. Once the audit is complete, add up the number of single-use and rechargeable batteries in each room. Write the totals for each room in the two end columns marked Single-Use and Photo courtesy: tomblois, Flickr.
7. Add all the single-use and rechargeables and record the totals in Total Number of Batteries at the bottom of the Home Chart. Finally, add the two amounts together to find the total number of batteries in your home and record the total in Grand Total of Batteries at the bottom of the Home Chart. 8. If you wrote other to describe any of the batteries in your home, tell us what kind of batteries they are. What device were they found in (i.e. calculator, watch, cordless phone)? Write this information in the section provided. 9. In the section marked My Comments, write down your thoughts about what you found out during your battery search. Did you learn something about how your family uses batteries? Were you surprised at how many batteries you found, and the different types of batteries? Was it difficult to find all the battery operated devices in your home? What battery-powered devices does your family really need? Which ones can you do without? NOTE TO TEACHERS This is a take-home assignment that requires about 2 hours to complete and students will require some adult supervision. Classroom follow-up will require about 2 3 minutes. CLASSROOM FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS 1. Does your family use more, or fewer batteries than your classmates? What about single-use vs. rechargeable? 2. Where in your home did you find the most battery-powered devices? Where did you find the fewest? 3. Now that you know how many and what types- of batteries your family uses, are there any ways that you and your family could keep the environment clean by changing the way you buy and use batteries? What devices does your family really need, which ones can you do without? 4. Did you know that the three basic steps in battery production involve mining, factory processing, manufacturing and packaging? Discuss some of the ways that these steps can cause harm to our environment. 5. What are some ways you can safely dispose of batteries to reduce your environmental footprint? Visit ecokids.ca for helpful ideas and call2recycle.ca to find your nearest battery drop off location.
ECOKIDS BATTERY BUSTERS AUDIT HOME CHART ROOM BATTERY-POWERED DEVICES / SPARE BATTERIES NUMBER OF BATTERIES SIZE OF BATTERY (AA, AAA, C) IN EACH ROOM Example 1 Flashlight 1 Pack of Spare Batteries 2 4 AA AAA 6 Living Room Dining Room Family Room Kitchen Home Office Bedroom(s) Washroom(s) Garage Other Room(s) GRAND TOTAL OF BATTERIES (SINGLE-USE AND RECHARGEABLE)
OTHER BATTERIES USED IN MY HOME MY COMMENTS
ECOKIDS BATTERY BUSTERS AUDIT ROOM BATTERY-POWERED DEVICES / SPARE BATTERIES NUMBER OF BATTERIES SIZE OF BATTERY (AA, AAA, C) IN EACH ROOM Example 1 Flashlight 1 Pack of Spare Batteries 2 4 AA AAA 6 Classroom(s) Lunch Room Washroom(s) Office(s) Gymnasium Hallways Computer Lab Library Other Room(s) GRAND TOTAL OF BATTERIES (SINGLE-USE AND RECHARGEABLE)
OTHER BATTERIES USED IN MY SCHOOL MY COMMENTS