Futurenergia - Energy is our future

	This kit provides ideas and a set of related resources to help teachers enhance their curriculum with energy-related activities in school.

Subject: Cross-curricular: sciences, languages, literature, art, geography, history and computer science.

Age Group: Profile the FuturEnergia Hero (7-14 years old)
The Adventures of FuturEnergia Hero (7-14 years old)
Wanna be a Hero (14-20 years)

Level: Easy to advanced

Duration: 1 to 3 months

Introduction: This kit provides ideas and a set of related resources to help teachers enhance their curriculum with energy-related activities in school. The kit is based on the Energy is Our Future School programme: www.futurenergia.org  

The programme proposes three online activities that may be approached by twin schools. They can organise common preparatory activities before submitting an outcome to the programme website. The three activities are accompanied by guidelines, related resources and a submission form. The activity outcome should be a team effort among students.

Submit your outcomes to the Futurenergia competition by 27 April 2008. For more information on the competition, click here.

ICT tools: Email, video chat, instant mail, presentation tools, word processors, spreadsheets, image processors, discussion groups, scanner application, Web submission forms

Pedagogical Objectives: 

• familiarise students with topics such as energy efficiency, climate protection and resource efficiency
• enable them to transpose energy-related topics into a drawing and/or related written and media composition
• provide students with positive examples of what saving energy looks like
• evaluate and analyse factors that affect design and materials that contribute to energy saving
• evaluate and discuss the advantages of reusing natural and renewable energy resources
• convey knowledge about some concepts in the field of energy and materials
• help modify and/or improve habits in terms of energy use.

Process: Partner schools are invited to experience information exchange as preparatory activities before submitting contributions to the programme website.

1. Starting Activities
1.  Profile the FuturEnergia Hero
Groups of students define and present the main features of the FuturEnergia Hero, a comic strip character, by drawing and writing about his/her habits, lifestyle, etc.

2. Consolidation
2. The Adventures of FuturEnergia Hero
Five ‘subjects’, composed of a title and a short description, are proposed on the website. These subjects set the scene of an episode for a comic strip to be created by students, in teams. They are invited to either: 1) write a script narrating a story based on the subject chosen, or 2) draw a comic strip composed of a maximum of ten tables and upload a digital picture to the website.

3. Wanna be a Hero?
Five brain challenges and related background content are offered on the website. Students, in groups, select one of the challenges and conduct online research about it. They are then invited to suggest solutions on how to avoid the given situations by providing an alternate way of living (changing habits, behaviour, materials, etc.) presented through either: 1) a video clip, or 2) a multimedia presentation (composed of a group of photographs and/or drawings).

3. Conclusion

• Energy efficiency: the impact of design and material selection on energy consumption.
• Climate protection: how our day-to-day behaviour can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Resource efficiency: how each of us can do something to save natural resources.

4. Outcomes
This theme requires a thorough and well-organized teaching and learning process which has to be planned in one or more lessons, depending on the teachers’ choice. Students (in groups, with the guidance of their teacher) first need to identify where they can find examples for efficient use of energy. Then they need to conduct scientific research to prove their findings. The next step is to explain their results in a clear and structured way so that others can understand the issue and learn from the presented example.

Follow up options: In terms of classroom impact, the competition may enable young people to acquire knowledge and skills in the field of sciences through a number of related activities: identification of a problem, thorough research and evaluation, problem-solving solutions, critical thinking, and presentation design. During these activities, students may select and present the most relevant information they gathered and the solution they envisage in a way that can convince a European audience (website visitors, counterparts and the jury members).

Useful links:
Energy is our Future: Library
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/library.htm
This section features a set of teaching and learning online resources that may help teachers prepare lessons on energy-related topics. The section also includes past outcomes that resulted from a Web-based classroom activity and a school competition that were open during the school year 2006-2007.
Energy is Our Future: News
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/news.htm
This section publishes news about the project, articles highlighting ideas and suggestions on teaching about energy at school, as well as chat reports. The content of this section is intended to support and inspire both teachers and students and enrich their knowledge on energy-related themes.
Teachers’ Guide
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/about/guide.htm
This guide is intended to help teachers integrate energy and climate protection topics into their teaching. The guide provides some background information and a set of suggestions on how to approach such topics in the classroom.

	Web Editor:	Petru Dumitru

	Opublikowano :	28/02/2008

	Zmieniono ostatnio :	18/03/2008

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