1Energize Me to Teach about Energy Efficiency

March 3, 2009

Welcome, introduction of CEEE staff (Who, what, how long)Participant introductions-See Survey Monkey

: Part One Teaching Tools

Goal of education: “Build” adults with values and beliefs that benefit our society

How do we do this? With a “toolbox” of methods for:

• Information

• Motivation

• Evaluation

Some of these tools have been grouped together in a process called Inquiry Learning.

Scott Stimmel will describe how he has been taught Inquiry Learning here at UNI.

There are several other descriptions of inquiry learning. For our purposes, we will use information from the Connecticut State Department of Education. Their Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) website has a series of units to help teachers incorporate inquiry learning in their classrooms. Please review these materials before our next class. Your evaluation for this class will be based on a portfolio unit described in the “Portfolio Corner” of the website. It consists of a small inquiry-learning unit you develop for energy efficiency, wind energy or solar energy using the materials from this class.

Let’s try the inquiry method on a small, but fundamental component we will be using for this class. It looks like this (show motor pieces). Please find it and a pair of pliers now.

• What is the name of this component?

• What is inside this component?

• How does this component work?

• How is this component reversible?

We use this same piece for both our model solar cars and wind turbines. In exploring this component and discovering what it is made of and how it works you’ve learned by the inquiry method. You could have learned the same thing from a lecture, but you would probably have fallen asleep halfway through! Research has shown that children learn better with inquiry methods.

’ Teacher s Tools

1. Lectures and note taking

2. Worksheets

3. Web quests

4. Hands-on activities and labs

5. Games

6. Videos and TV (IPTV)

7. Expert guests

There are both advantages and disadvantages of inquiry learning. What do you think they are?

: Part Two Energy Efficiency

: Energy Basics Vocabulary

Voltage/VoltsCurrent/AmpsPower/Watts or KilowattsFrequency/HertzEnergy/Kilowatt-Hrs

: Energy Basics Learning to use the equipment and play the games

1. Jeff Beneke and the Kill-A-Watt meter, Infrared camera, and School Energy Efficiency Project. Appliance Survey or Home Energy Savings form

2. Light Up Your Life game and home energy inventory

3. Energy Jeopardy Game

Inquiry Learning Questions

With the information and motivation provided in your Energize Me! Kits and any other resources, please answer the following questions:

1. What are the biggest energy users in your home?2. What are the smallest, nearly constant energy users in your home?3. What can be done to reduce the energy used in your home?4. How can you motivate the people in your home to positively change their energy

use?5. What other questions would you like to explore?