Questions’ pick

What’s your favorite energy question?

At the very beginning of the semester each student had been asked for his/her favorite energy questions, i.e. one or more questions he/she was very interested in and would like to know the answer. The result of 70 questions in total is shown in the table below and is linked to the final website contribution giving the students’ answers.

As an important CLIL goal is “activating prior knowledge”; this step had do be implemented in a very early phase of the project for generating original and “rough” students’ questions.

Choose at least 1 of 70 !

Here’s the Questions’ pick table of 70 students’ questions. Some of them have been answered by the research teams of BM2 VZ. Each research team had been responsible for giving an answer to at least one student’s question. More information about the Energy Website Project

NO. TITLE QUESTIONS
1 Renewable energy How is renewable energy bought and sold?
2 Why? Why are we doing this? I think it is important to take care of our planet. Because our children and their childeren have to live on our planet which we are destroying now.
3 Solar=? Why is solar energy really a form of nuclear energy?
4 Fossil fuels What about fuel for cars?

The world will run out of petroleum from oil wells. Maybe in 20 years, but more likely in 50 to 100 years.
5 Wasting energy How can we make future generations appreciate our environment?
6 Renewable energy What is the difference between renewable energy and renewable energy technology?
7 Think about time Time scaling, Earth 4.6 billion years compared to 46 years, 4h, 1 min.
8 Future Earth This picture shows a range of renewable energy sources. For me this is important: When will renewable energy sources be as common as non-renewable ones?
9 Environment How much better would our environment be if everyone would use the public transport instead of their own car?

People would realize how bad exhaust gases really are!
10 Climate change Is climate change our fault?

According to science 95% of climate change is primarily due to human activities.
11 Future without non-renewable energy Is it possible to avoid using non-renewable energy in the future ?

I think it’s an important question for our society and our future generations.
12 Saving energy Why is wind energy the most important way to produce energy?
13 Personal energy question How could I save energy in my daily life?

Reason: I probably use a lot of energy and maybe I could save a lot in an easy way.
14 Energy saving in Switzerland What are the most effective possibilities to save energy in Switzerland?

I think there are a lot of possibilities to save energy, but we should figure out which of them are the best.
15 My energy question How much energy do I consume per day and how can I calculate it?

Reason for the question:

It’s an interesting fact to know and when I know the answer I can control my energy consumption better.
16 Energy saving subsidies Does the government support me when I want to build for example solar panels?
17 Swiss Energy plan 2050 Can the Swiss Parlament achieve their goal of the 2050 nuclear exit plan?
18 Energy source What Energy source should be developed next?
19 GYM When we produce energy in a gym, could we use it again? Wouldn’t it be a nice idea?

Maybe it would be a nice idea for the economy and we could earn money.
20 Nuclear energy? Is it possible for Switzerland to live without nuclear energy?

This could be important for the future.
21 Future World How will our world look like in the future, if we continue like this?
22 Only renewable Energy? Is it possible that mankind can live only with renewable energy?

Reason: It’s important for our environement.
23 Comparing energy worldwide Which countries or areas in the world are the best in saving energy?

It would be nice to know, how Switzerland would classify in a rating with other countries and which we could use as a role model.
24 Impact of Energy consumption on the Earth How does our Earth react to our energy consumption?

I think it is an important question for our society and for our future!
25 Nuclear energy How will nuclear energy be replaced?

We need a good substitute to be able to get out of nuclear energy.
26 How much longer… How much longer would our world exist if every country in the whole world would use renewable energy?
27 Energy costs How can we save energy costs at home?

If we know how much we spend everybody will try to save money.
28 Energy principles Who has found out that something like energy exists and how did that person know that there was something like energy?

Reason for the question:

It is interesting to know and see the origin of “energy” and how it developed.
29 Household energy saving How much energy does one household need per year?

edit: When we answer this question we can save energy everyday.
30 Personal energy saving How much energy does one person consume in a normal day?

It’s important because every person should know how much energy we consume.
31 Solar energy Why is the material of solar energy so expensive?

If it’s cheaper maybe everybody would switch to this energy source.
32 Solar Energy explained How does solar energy work?

Reason: It’s important that people know what solar energy is.
33 Energy & safety How many Watts of electrical energy can a human body withstand?

Reason for the question:

I think it’s really interesting to see how many Watts a human body can withstand, to see at which level of energy our body gives up.
34 Energy suppliers Which companies in Switzerland provide energy?

In our daily life we use a lot of energy and I’m not sure how many companies (energy suppliers) there are in Switzerland.

That’s why I created this question to find out more about it.
35 Energy breakdown What would happen if there would suddenly be an energy breakdown?
36 Mechanical Energy (movement) How much energy could we save if only people who aren’t able to take the stairs would use the elevator?

Sure we would save a lot of energy and be fit at the same time!
37 Environmental disaster Do you think if we continue living like we do now, one day there will be an environmental disaster like in the movie “2012” ?
38 Energy balancing How can the greenhouse effect be perfectly balanced?

This question is important because we only have one world.
39 Wind Turbine How much energy does a wind turbine produce?
40 Energy plans What are the plans of the government to save energy in the future?
41 Energy supply For how long will our fuel supplies last to supply the world with energy?

In our consumeristic economic system nearly everything works with oil or is produced by it. If this resource dries up our world as we know it will no longer be able to sustain itself.
42 Renewable energy use Which country is the most renewable in energy use?
43 Nuclear energy How does a nuclear power station work?

I think it’s important because many people don’t know how it works.
44 Dead animals because of oil How many animals died outright from the oil spill?
45 CO2-Emissions How can we reduce the emissions of CO2 most effectively?

Not to drive cars is one way but what else?
46 Wind energy Why do we not use more energy which is produced or created by wind?
47 What costs more? …to heat with wood chips or with oil?
48 Holy Grail of Energy Has the “Holy Grail” of energy been found? The “Holy Grail” offers a possibility of limitless clean energy. It’s the same reaction that keeps our Sun burning. That’s why it is important to know if it has been found yet.
49 Save Energy How can we save energy in everyday life?

I’ve chosen this question because I want to know how much energy we can save in our everyday life and how the outcome will be when everybody helps to save energy.
50 Cars Why are cars which produce more pollutants*) less expensive than cars which produce less pollutants?

*)Schadstoffe
51 Solar Energy Why don’t we all use solar energy? So we wouldn’t produce any CO2.
52 Individual energy saving Can I, as an individual person, accomplish anything if I save energy?

Many people ask themselves this question.
53 Lightning strike How much energy is in a lightning strike?
54 Plastic bottle How much oil is used to make a plastic bottle?
55 The sun’s energy For how long does the sun burn?

It’s important or interesting to know because we can’t live without the sun.
56 Energy & movement Is movement = energy?
57 Saving energy at home How much energy would we save if we turn off the light when cleaning our teeth ?
58 most energy consumption In which city do people consume the most energy?

It’s important to know in which city the most energy consumption is because if we know we can save more energy there.
59 Energy sources Could we live in a world without electronic energy sources?

It is important to try to avoid unnecessary energy sources we don’t need.
60 A family’s energy saving How much energy does a family consume per day?

When we know how much energy we spend per day, we see where we could save energy.
61 Photovoltaic cells How does a photovoltaic cell work?
Most people do not know how that works.
62 Energy costs of living How much does energy cost?

I really don’t have any idea how much or little it costs to run private houses.
63 Energy & sun & moon Why is the moon and the sun bright? Where do they take energy from?

Reason: Do you think in your life about it? Do you have some ideas? I guess it would be nice to know something about these things.
64 Energy in a cup of coffee Question: How much energy is contained in a cup of coffee?

Reason: If the coffee had a memory it could tell me an interesting story (e.g. growing coffee plants, plantation worker, harvesting, travelling overseas, etc.); and each step is related to energy.
65 Energy prices At which time of the day is energy cheapest?
66 Nuclear power in the future What does the future hold for nuclear energy?

It’s important to change to other renewable energies, because nuclear energy heavily pollutes our environment.
67 Embedded Energy How much energy is embedded in agricultural products?
68 Long-distance heating Why isn’t long-distance heating as common as other heating sources?
70 E-car’s power How long does it take you to charge an electric car and how much km can you drive then?
71 Geothermal Energy How can we use the Earth’s heat?