National Environmental Education Week April 15-22 2007
Submitted by National Environmental Education Week
2007-03-01 16:08:17
National Environmental Education Week will involve thousands of educators and millions of students. It will enhance the educational impact of Earth Day and create a full week of environmental education preparation, learning, and activities in K-12 classrooms, nature centers, zoos, museums, and aquariums.
National Environmental Education Week is coordinated by the National Environmental Education & Training Foundation in cooperation with hundreds of outstanding environmental education organizations, education associations, state and federal agencies.
For more information on National Environmental Education Week, go to http://www.eeweek.org
[UPDATED MARCH 1, 2007:]
National Environmental Education Week 2007
Discovering the Energy All Around Us
With energy topics regularly frequenting the news and electronic gadgets from iPods to cell phones increasingly common in the hands of students, there is no doubt that youth play a powerful role in the day-to-day use of energy.
The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation is therefore pleased to announce a unique partnership between the Alliance to Save Energy and National Environmental Education Week 2007 for a special focus on energy, with FREE energy curricula, resources, and activities available online. No participant will be required to implement energy activities, but if you are searching for a focus for EE Week the following sample curricula can get your students thinking about energy and how their daily use of it can affect the environment:
* Energy Hog. The Alliance to Save Energy?s Energy Hog program is an online computer activity that reveals "energy hogs" in our homes that can be eliminated, thus saving energy and protecting the environment. The website also includes the Energy Hog Challenge, a set of classroom activities that can be downloaded for free. Appropriate for 3rd- 6th grade students.
http://www.energyhog.org
* Discover How Trees Produce and Save Energy. The National Arbor Day Foundation?s National Poster Contest curricula from 2005 offers free lesson plans and activities demonstrating the link between trees and energy. Appropriate for middle school students.
http://www.arborday.org/kids/graphics/poster-contest/activity-guide05.pdf
* Alliance to Save Energy Downloadable Lesson Plans. According to the Alliance to Save Energy, many schools spend more on energy costs than on computers and textbooks combined. A number of these free, downloadable curricula are used in the Alliance to Save Energy?s Green Schools Program?a unique, collaborative effort by teachers, administrators, and facilities and maintenance staff which reduces school energy costs while at the same time educating students.
http://www.ase.org/section/_audience/educators/lessons/
More great energy curricula for all grade levels can be found at our Energy Curricula page.
http://www.eeweek.org/energycurricula.htm
Once you have curricula in place, take the lesson out of the classroom by conducting energy activities around home or school:
* Find Energy Leakers and Energy Stars. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75% of the energy used for appliances in the typical home is consumed when the appliances are ?turned off?. This power is consumed by features such as cell phones that, when left plugged in, slowly ?leak? small amounts of energy over time. Encourage your students to document the number of Energy Leakers in their homes and school and then have them report back to class. Check out the Energy Star website for more information.
http://www.energystar.gov/
* Change a Light. Replace just four standard bulbs in your school with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), and you'll reduce your electricity bills by more than $100 over the lives of those bulbs! More importantly, you'll save energy and prevent the emission of five thousand pounds of carbon dioxide. The U.S. EPA?s Change a Light, Change the World campaign provides resources and promotional materials for how to engage in a Change a Light campaign in your school. Find out more at the Change a Light website.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=change_light.changealight_index
* Move the Thermostat 3 Degrees. According to the Center for a New American Dream heating and cooling represent one of the biggest chunks of home energy consumption in the U.S. By simply turning the thermostat down three degrees in the winter and up three degrees in the summer, you can prevent the emission of nearly 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. Classes or even entire schools can join New American Dream?s Turn the Tide Campaign and track their energy savings. Go to the Turn the Tide website to learn more.
http://www.newdream.org/tttoffline/index.php
For more energy activities for all grade levels, see our new Energy Activities page.
http://www.eeweek.org/energyactivities.htm
Are you already planning different activities for EE Week? No problem! In addition to its energy resources, the EE Week website also offers links to a wealth of general environmental education resources and curricula for just about any topic and grade level. Here are just two of them:
* Classroom Earth. Classroom Earth serves as a one-stop shop for the most frequently used standards-based EE curriculum available for grades preK-12. Find out more at
http://www.classroomearth.org
* Center for Environmental Education Online. CEE Online?s Curriculum Review Library is an excellent way to quickly and easily search for curriculum by topic. The site also explains how each curriculum adheres to the educational standards set forth by the North American Association for Environmental Education.
http://www.ceeonline.org/