Science teacher told that switching sockets off saves electricity

[Zontiki]

There are switches on the electric sockets.
Science teacher in DD's school said that if it is not switched off and even if nothing is plugged into the socket, it still consumes electricity.
Now the girls in the school walk through corridors and switch empty sockets off.
What do you think about it?

I do this at home, as did my parents. I always thought it saved electricity, 😕

I would have thought the socket needs a complete electric circuit (I.e. something plugged in) for it to have an electrical flow

Does this teacher teach social science?

I always thought it saved electricity!

It never occurred to me that leaving them on uses electricity. Can someone tell us the definitive answer?

No way it uses electricity

The science teacher clearly needs to learn more about science, particularly circuits! What a load of nonsense and very worrying that this misinformation is coming from a science teacher.

I once observed a science lesson in a mainly Muslim school, in which the teacher said "Now we all know that evolution isn't true, however it's still on your exam so we need to cover it anyway"

Somehow the science lessons in my DDs class are very politicized.
Last year nearly the whole spring term was dedicated to Greta Thunberg and the global warming, but unfortunately they learnt nothing about the science of global warming, but just about politics and the protests. Because of this there were several topics in the science that they did not cover and my DD had to learn by herself towards the exam. The teacher is very excited with saving the planet, but any question my DD asks about science - the answer is: you will learn this later and I don't want to confuse you now. I think it is very important to teach children to save energy, recycle plastics etc., but science lessons should first of all concentrate on science. And educated person can be much more effective in fighting global warming than an ignorant one, who does not understand what to do and advocates switching off sockets.

If course it doesn’t use electricity

Try using an appliance you’ve plugged into a switched off socket and see what happens.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear.
That's really not on.

Normally I'd say talk to the teacher directly but in this case I might be inclined to have a look in your DC's book and then call for a chat with the head of department about what the curriculum coverage should be for this term. You may find the curriculum coverage is also on the school website.

As a middle leader, it's sometimes really useful when parents call us up about these things as it adds to what we already are dealing with internally and helps us make the case that someone isn't doing what they should be.

(Of course maybe the curriculum is all about political science issues but I doubt it).

Electrician of 20 years DH says "What a load of bollocks".

Why aren’t they following the national curriculum?

When I was young, sockets did not have switches. We had no idea electricity was leaking from them all over the floor.

Why aren’t they following the national curriculum?
Academy and free schools 2/3 of secondaries do not have to

A lot of countries still don't even have switches on sockets!

Ohyesiam
Most secondary schools are academies so exempt from the national curriculum.
The KS3 national curriculum isnt very detailed anyway.

This is the KS3 National Curriculum for Science
The principal focus of science teaching in key stage 3 is to develop a deeper understanding of a range of scientific ideas in the subject disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Pupils should begin to see the connections between these subject areas and become aware of some of the big ideas underpinning scientific knowledge and understanding. Examples of these big ideas are the links between structure and function in living organisms, the particulate model as the key to understanding the properties and interactions of matter in all its forms, and the resources and means of transfer of energy as key determinants of all of these interactions. They should be encouraged to relate scientific explanations to phenomena in the world around them and start to use modelling and abstract ideas to develop and evaluate explanations.

Pupils should understand that science is about working objectively, modifying explanations to take account of new evidence and ideas and subjecting results to peer review. Pupils should decide on the appropriate type of scientific enquiry to undertake to answer their own questions and develop a deeper understanding of factors to be taken into account when collecting, recording and processing data. They should evaluate their results and identify further questions arising from them.

‘Working scientifically’ is described separately at the beginning of the programme of study, but must always be taught through and clearly related to substantive science content in the programme of study. Teachers should feel free to choose examples that serve a variety of purposes, from showing how scientific ideas have developed historically to reflecting modern developments in science.

Pupils should develop their use of scientific vocabulary, including the use of scientific nomenclature and units and mathematical representations.

TBH it’s likely that this teacher could be teaching out of their specialism. The country has such a shortage of science teachers that a lot of KS3 is taught by non- scientists. I would probably send them an email, letting them know they’ve said something daft. Considering the number of people on here that thought the same thing - it’s likely that some non-science teachers think this too! In an ideal world we would have enough teachers for all subjects.

Well it technically uses some electricity albeit must be quite low. There is a fuse in every switch in the UK, that has current passing through all the time if on. I think there is some constant tension there so some electricity is used. Anyways that is what someone said a while ago

Out of specialism or not, it's fairly reasonable to expect staff to have swotted up on the basic areas they're teaching.

I wouldn't expect a non specialist English teacher (for example) to have a broad knowledge of Victorian literature, but I'd expect them to know the basics of Oliver Twist to teach it to y7/8 if that's this term's topic. A non specialist Geography teacher wouldn't have to know the subtle differences in different geological erosion patterns, but they should be able to identify the basic features of a river like a meander, mouth and oxbow lake if they were teaching a lesson on rivers.

As a teacher i'd be bothered about what was going on in science if my child came home saying they were doing more about politics than science and then something like the OP happened. I wouldn't be horrible to complain about the teacher, but I'd have a number of queries and want to talk them through with the head of department.

I was always told to turn off any unused switches for that reason, it would save money. Didn't realise it was rubbish. Oops.

It depends what, if anything is plugged in to it SD. If the socket is empty, then the circuit is open so there’s no flow of electricity whether the switch is on or not.

Some things, do use a small amount of electricity even when not in use so switching off the socket would make sense if those are left plugged in.

You’re always advised to switch off things like hairdryers that are plugged in to a switched on socket, as they can electrically fault and cause fires - indeed I knew someone who lost their whole house, pretty much, due to a hairdryer in this situation - which makes me think perhaps there’s something in the idea?

Maybe there is a miscommunication along the line and the teacher meant turning off sockets with unused chargers plugged in them? Some people don't realise that chargers for things like phones and laptops still use electricity if the phone or laptop is unplugged.