Lesson Overview

Students will outline an action plan aimed at inspiring a specific audience to take energy saving actions at school, home, or the community. Students will devise ways to communicate their action plan and develop a resource that can be disseminated to their audience.

Target Grades: 6-8

Set Up Time: 30 minutes

Class Time: 2 hours

Lesson Resources

Objectives

1. Identify opportunities to conserve energy and be more energy efficient

2. Develop ways to engage peers in energy saving practices

3. Describe steps that can be taken at school and home to reduce energy

Guiding question: How can we educate our peers about the importance of saving energy and the steps to do so?

Educational Standards

ALASKA CULTURAL STANDARDS: B2, B3 & B4

ALASKA ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:
Reading for Informational Text: 6-8 RST.KI.3; 6-8 RST.IKI.8
Writing: 6-8 WSLST.PDW.4-5; 6-8 WSLST.RW.10; 6-8 WSLST.RBPK.7-9
Speaking and Listening Standards: 6-8 SL.CC.1 (a, c); 7 SL.PKI.4; 7 SL.CC.2

ALASKA SKILLS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE: A5, B2, B4, D2, D6

ALASKA DIGITAL LITERACY STANDARDS: 6-12.CC.1-4; 6-12.GC.3

ENERGY LITERACY CONCEPTS: 5.3, 5.7, 6.6, 7.3

NGSS: MS-ESS3-3

Lesson Preparation:
  • Read the Background section below.
Gather Materials:
  • Paper
  • Pen/Pencil
  • Kill A Watt meters (optional)

Schools spend considerable sums of money on energy. In 2009, the roughly 125,000 public and private K-12 schools in the United States spent approximately $12 billion on energy, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The classroom environment is a great forum for building youth leadership opportunities and providing space for students to discuss, reflect and become engaged in real-world problem-solving. The classroom plays a vital role in a students’ development and is an environment where peers can work together and be creative. By forming an action plan, students can express to teachers and school administrators what is important to them and what visions they have for their school.

One way to get students thinking about how they can make a difference in their daily habits and at their school is by having students develop an Action Plan that focuses on energy conservation and efficiency. If students have already learned about energy efficiency or have conducted a classroom or school energy audit, this activity is a great way to have them take what they have learned and apply it to real-world solutions.

Action Plan– A sequence of steps and activities with a timeline used to strategically meet goals. These goals support the group’s mission and overarching long-term objective.

Energy Conservation– Reducing energy use through a behavior change that results in not using energy at a time when one might normally.  For example, riding a bike instead of driving a car, unplugging computers and other electronics at night or when not in use, or turning off the lights when you leave a room.

Energy Efficiency– Reducing energy use through an improvement in technology that makes an existing use of energy more efficient, i.e. allows us to do more with less. Examples of energy efficiency include replacing incandescent light bulbs with LEDs, adding extra insulation to a house, or using Energy Star® appliances that have power-saving measures installed.

Kill-A-Watt Meter– A device that monitors electricity use by appliances. It plugs into the electric outlet and the appliance plugs into the Kill-A-Watt meter, so it can measure and display how much electricity the appliance uses.

Gear Up:
  • Ask students how they are able to influence or motivate other students to conserve energy and use energy efficient technology.  
  • Introduce the idea of developing a class or school energy efficiency action plan, and discuss how they can improve their school and the surrounding community by educating their peers, teachers, and school administrators on energy conservation and efficiency.
Activity:
  • Break students into groups of 3-5 and have them designate a note taker.
  • Give students time to brainstorm ideas and sketch out an outline for an action plan that focuses on engaging their peers in energy conservation and efficiency practices.
  • The action plan’s efforts will primarily be directed toward energy conservation and efficiency at school, but students can also incorporate ways to promote these issues at home and in their community. The action plan must have the following clearly stated: 
    • A defined mission (the long-term objective of the action plan e.g. save energy, reduce energy costs, or raise awareness of energy efficiency and conservation)
    • The goals (the individual completed action items that support the mission of the plan)
  • Establish the basic parameters for the action plan:
    • The audience (ex: the class, families, the whole school etc.)
    • The timeline (ex: one week, one semester, one school-year, etc.)
    • The rewards for participation
    • Action steps (a detailed list of steps to achieve the goals of the plan)
  • Students can begin by writing a Classroom Energy Policy that states what the classroom policy is for energy use and lists responsibilities of students to conserve energy.
  • List and describe three activities to include in the action plan. Ex: creating a teacher and/or student energy survey, conducting a classroom or a school energy audit, organizing a school energy fair, organizing a student bike/walk to school week, planning community service projects, and developing a school energy initiative.
  • Discuss ways to promote your action plan and get students involved.  Presenting data about how much energy is used in classrooms and how much energy can be saved can inspire students and teachers. Students can use Kill-A-Watt meters to demonstrate how much electricity is being wasted in the classroom as phantom loads.
  • Have each group of students present their ideas to the class.
Extension:
  • Have the entire class synthesize the mission and goals into one combined class action plan. 
  • As a group, devise various ways that ideas can be synthesized and communicated i.e. maps, educational brochures, presentations, etc.
  • Discuss ways that the students can turn this activity into a school club!
  • Have the students create informational resources promoting energy conservation and efficiency practices that can be distributed throughout school, in the school newsletter and other communication channels.
Evaluation:

Ask students to:

  • Work together as groups to devise an energy efficiency action plan.
  • Share their group’s action plans with the rest of the class.