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Energy Literacy – Las Vegas Style !

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Classroom InnovationUtilizing the Department of Energy’s

Energy Literacy Guide

An InitiativeCreated and Administered by

Monica Brett and Judy TreichelFunded by the Civil Society Institute

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energy.gov/eere/energyliteracy

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Education Partners

• • Alliance to Save Energy• • American Association for the Advancement• Of Science, Project 2061• • American Association of Blacks in Energy• • American Nuclear Society• • Association of Public and Land Grant Universities• • Center of Science and Mathematics in• Context, University of Massachusetts, Boston• • Chabot Space & Science Center• • Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness• Network• U.S. Department of Energy• • Cooperative Institute for Research in the• Environmental Sciences,• University of Colorado, Boulder• • Energy Bridge• • KQED San Francisco, QUEST• • National Center for Science Education• • National Council for Science and the• Environment• • National Energy Education Development Project• • National Energy Foundation• • National Science Teachers Association• • North American Association for• Environmental Education

• • Otherlab• • Science Museum of Minnesota• • TERC• • WestEd• • Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program• • Women Impacting Public Policy

• U.S. Global Change Research Program Partner Agencies:• • Department of Agriculture• • Department of Commerce• • Department of Defense• • Department of Energy• • Department of Health and Human Services• • Department of the Interior• • Department of State• • Department of Transportation• • Environmental Protection Agency• • National Aeronautics and Space Administration• • National Science Foundation• • The Smithsonian Institution• • US Agency for International Development

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Comprehensive guide for energy education for “learners of all ages.”

Teachers determined 4th and/or 5th grade level was optimal to begin.

Integrated with existing language, math and science teaching schedule and lesson structure.

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Las Vegas/Clark County, NV School District has over 310,000 students with 23% limited English proficient.

Two 5th grade teachers created an outline that complied with District guidelines and STEM principles.

A 5th grade teacher completed the curriculum geared for his “at risk” school where 2/3 of students are English language learners.

Course was presented to his class at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. Length of the course has been extended to all year. Is combined with other subjects and students are excited about it.

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The final curriculum will have lesson plans presenting and explaining energy concepts, hands on experiments and presentations.

Hands-on learning includes:

Energy in motion – light, sound and heat

Light – shadows and mirrorsSound – tuning fork, drum, guitarHeat – from sun to earth, light bulbsTransfer of energy through electrical currentVisit to school by energy businesses and entrepreneurs

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Curriculum incorporates recently finalized Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS)

• Design, test and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another – Solar car, battery connected to a light bulb

• Energy and fuels from natural resources – Environmental effects and renewable resources

• Transfer of energy as electricity• Experiments showing transformation of energy• Experiments showing storage of energy

• Students write an essay about energy resources and their effects on the environment

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Winter Break ProjectStudents were told to select a form of energy and work with

family members to design a poster featuring and describing it. Here are examples:

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Going forward

• Course is designed to encourage girls as well as boys to pursue higher education in science and engineering.

• Informal learning is being developed with our local Girl Scouts to compliment these classroom activities and to encourage the girls even further.

• Links between energy, commerce and the environment are also introduced in the curriculum and will be expanded as the students advance to upper level grades and future study.

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Creating this curriculum

• We selected and modestly paid enthusiastic teachers and had buy-in and strong support from their principals

• We set up meetings with the teachers and staff at the Clark County School District at various stages during the writing of the course

• Teachers were given contact information for District representatives as well as the Department of Energy liaison for the teaching of the Energy Literacy Guide, allowing them to check in and to discuss their ideas and plans

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Lessons Learned

• Kids are underestimated by Administrators– Perceptions were: students in affluent areas were far more apt to have

advantages in learning and understanding and those in depressed areas would not be capable

• Any requirement for money from the school is a problem– When teachers initially had ideas that involved new equipment and

resources, there were obstacles that were difficult or impossible to overcome

– Local businesses were willing to visit the classroom and donate much needed and appreciated supplies

• Administration Bureaucracy– School Administrator involvement in the curriculum was easy at

conception. We needed to schedule it carefully during the process.

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Findings/Our Opinions

• A curriculum like this cannot be realized by a teacher alone.– They don’t have the time– We worked to make connections with officials and business for help

that we could not afford.– We found initial funding to pay the teachers who did the extra work– We made connections with many entities involved with the schools

from the District Administrative Office to the Governor’s Office.

Next Steps:Get a finished course with lesson plans from the teacher who

finished and tested the curriculum. He should be paid for the time.Find new funding that will allow us to promote the 5th grade

curriculum to all schools and begin the creation of the middle school grade courses.

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Enthusiasm for our project

• Monica,

• Thank you for sharing this exciting news and congratulations! I am thrilled to see that the Clark County School District will launch a comprehensive curriculum providing 5th grade students real-life experiences with energy that assists with STEM education. The Governor’s Office of Energy will promote this on our social media sites. Please keep us informed on the progress and how we might be able to expand this curriculum State wide and support your energy lab bus efforts.

• Best Regards,

• Paul Thomsen• Director• Governor's Office of Energy