Whose responsibility is it?

Energy – Voice of a generation

E.ON is asking 14–16 year-olds across the UK to share their thoughts on what they think individuals, their government and energy companies need to do ensure energy is created and consumed responsibly.

E.ON will send a FREE pack to schools in September containing research materials. Schools will need to elect two students to manage the data-gathering process and create a report. Then their report will be sent to E.ON and uploaded on the E.ON Energy Experience website.

The outcome of the reports will be compiled to create Energy – Voice of a generation, a document that will be presented to the Government in 2008. Your school may be quoted in the report.

To register for your FREE research pack please email catherine.peters@edcoms.co.uk

Ask your students to start thinking about the effects of irresponsible energy consumption by exploring the activities below:

11–14s: The greenhouse effect

14–16s: Climate change

Grants to help schools go green

E.ON understands the importance of sustainability and the reduction of carbon emission so they have developed E.ON SOURCE. This is a web resource and a fund that offers grants of up to £30,000 to community groups and not-for-profit organisations for sustainable energy projects in their buildings.

Three schools have been awarded grants so far:

• Ashlawn School and Science College, Rugby awarded £15,000 for a wind turbine
• Claremont School Tunbridge Wells, Awarded £10,000 for solar technology
• Sandwich Technology School, Sandwich, awarded £15,000 for a wind turbine

If your school would like to apply for a grant you just need to complete an application form and email it to source@eon-uk.com. If you have any queries about the fund you can also email source@eon-uk.com.

There is one further round of funding planned for this year. The deadline is Friday 21 December so get your applications in now.

Encourage your students to explore sustainability in the activities below:

11–14s: The power generator

14–16s: Defining the sources

Who am I?

Equipment: Post-it notes or stickers

Write the main sources of energy on post-it notes or stickers and them stick them onto student’s foreheads. Then each student has to ask a series of questions to work out what their energy source is. For example, for solar energy, they could ask questions like ‘Do I rely on the sun?’, ‘Do I have a solar cell?’ and ‘Am I mostly used in sunny countries?’

Splat!

On a whiteboard, write down six or seven types of energy sources or words related to the various energy sources. Divide the class into two groups and give them each a number (so their will be two 1s, two 2s etc). You then ask a question to the whole class and the answer to this question will be written on the board. You then call out a number and the two students with that number race out to the front of the class and ‘splat’ (hit the correct word) on the board.

England

The changes planned for the new curriculum in 2008, encourage pupils to become ‘global citizens’ and to understand climate change. There are many opportunities to lay the groundwork for this in Key Stage 1 and 2. Use the Sustainable Schools Development Programme units on ‘Choices’ and ‘Developing our school grounds’. The programme defines sustainable development as caring for oneself, each other (across cultures, distances and generations) and for the environment (near and far).

Scotland

In the new academic year 2007–8 work will begin on planning for the full adoption of A Curriculum for Excellence for young people aged 3–18. Guidance will be published during the autumn and winter of 2007–8. The new curriculum aims to ensure that children and young people acquire the full range of skills and abilities relevant to growing, living and working in the contemporary world; able to anticipate and deal with the changes and challenges they will face.

Wales

There are no curriculum changes since the last e-newsletter.

Did you know that...?

• More solar energy strikes the earth in one hour than is provided in a whole year by all global fossil fuels.
• One recycled plastic bottle would save enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for three hours.
• 70% less energy is required to recycle paper compared with making it from raw materials.