Detective

Carry out a spot check to see if lights or electrical items are left on after school

Get pupils involved in checking that lights and IT equipment is switched off at the end of the school day

Carry out a spot check to see if lights or electrical items are left on at lunch time

Get pupils involved in checking whether lights and electrical equipment are being left on in empty classrooms or when no one is using them

Complete a baseload audit

Get to the bottom of what is causing your baseload

Conduct a lighting audit of your school

Identify if and where low energy LED lighting is or could be used in your school

Conduct a transport survey

Run our transport survey to find how how much carbon the school commute emits.

Energy audit of the school kitchens

Investigate and take action to save energy in the school kitchens

Energy audit of the school science labs and design technology workshops

Audit energy using equipment in the science labs and technology workshops and implement our top tips to save energy

Find out exactly how much food your school is wasting

Run a lunchtime audit to identify how much food waste is generated by your school

Find out how much oil or LPG your school is using

Find out how to track the oil or LPG consumption of you school's boiler and how much carbon dioxide it emits

Investigate heat loss in your school with a thermal imaging camera

See where your school is losing heat and then plan measures to improve insulation.

Investigate how much energy families use at home

Use our downloadable home energy questionnaire to find out about energy use behaviours at home

Investigate how the school's hot water is heated

Pupils talk to the caretaker, site manager or business manager to find out how water is heated in the school

Investigate the school's thermostats

Spot the thermostats around the school and investigate whether they are set at the optimum temperature

Investigate whether the school's heating and hot water is switched off during the school holidays

Find out whether the school's heating and hot water is running during the school holidays and take easy action to cut energy waste

Is your school kitchen planet friendly?

This questionnaire provides a general starting point for pupils to work with kitchen staff to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impact of their school kitchen.

Measure classroom temperatures

Put thermometers in every classroom and monitor these daily to track comfort levels and how well the heating system is working

Monitor light levels in classrooms

Monitor light levels in classrooms and develop an action plan to optimise use of natural light and minimise use of artificial lights

Monitor whether adults and pupils are wearing warmer clothes inside the school building during winter

Monitor how many pupils and staff are wearing warmer clothes on colder days and then take action to encourage more people to wear a jumper in winter to allow cooler room temperatures

Monitor whether electrical appliances and lights are left on or on standby after school.

Investigate how many lights and appliances are left on or on standby and take action to reduce unnecessary electricity use

Monitor whether outside doors and windows are closed during cold weather

Monitor whether doors and windows are open when the heating is on and explore alternative solutions to control classroom heating and ventilation

Review school heating timings

See heat with a thermal imaging camera

Explore a selection of experiments using a thermal imaging camera

Thermometers are put in each classroom to monitor room temperature

Put thermometers in each classroom and nominate class energy monitors to check the temperature remains just right at 18°C

Use appliance monitors to understand the energy use of individual appliances

Appliance monitors can be very useful to identify energy guzzling appliances to help support the case for appliance upgrades

Other (please specify)

Record any other detective activities here