What are the benefits?
Linking your energy and water management activities with stated learning outcomes in the curriculum helps to:
Teach pupils the importance of energy and water and the issues surrounding their use
Embed the process by linking to the highest priority in your school – good quality teaching
Bring learning to life in a real world setting, using the school itself as a free curricular resource
Increase the likelihood of a successful – and sustained - energy management programme in school.
Engage with the teaching staff and benefit from their interests and specialisms
Reduce the effect of ‘another scheme’ by incorporating activity into the education process
How to get started
Find out from your teachers if and where energy and water issues are currently covered in schemes of work. Likely examples include:
The Water Cycle – where water comes from and its different forms (Geography and Science)
Electricity – its generation, transmission, use and safety issues (Science)
Homes – energy and water use and how homes have changed (History)
Heat and Light – temperature and light surveys (Science and Maths)
Energy Sources – renewables and non-renewables (Geography)
You can then begin to make future schemes of work and lesson plans incorporating activities taking place across the whole school. Such examples include:
Identifying, classifying and counting the numbers of appliances that use energy in a school
Calculating consumption for each meter and for the school. Comparing with previous use
Calculating energy use of equipment from their energy ratings and their operating times
Writing poetry, news articles or taking part in debates to raise awareness
There is a wealth of information available online, including some innovative curricular resources. Some useful links have been provided at the bottom of this page to help get you started.
Resources to help you
Links to some curricular material are provided below.
We are also developing a curricular map to help you identify where and in what context energy and water fits within the curriculum. At present, this is only applicable to English and Northern Irish schools, although a Scottish version may be available shortly. This information will be accessible from this page once available.
[Country content will depend on who is registered ]
Where to get further information
Teachernet – www.teachernet.gov.uk/sustainableschools
The Sustainable Schools area of TeacherNet is designed to support schools on their journey to sustainability, introducing the principles of sustainable development and offering guidance on how to embed these principles into the heart of school life.
CREATE –www.create.org.uk/schools/teachers
The Teachers section of CREATE’s web site provides downloadable materials for primary and secondary schools and links to other sites providing energy education support. CREATE also provides a useful Links section to scores of web sites suitable for nergy education.
Energy Matters - www.cse.org.uk/cgi-bin/page.cgi?103
The Energy Matters resources are provided by the Centre for Sustainable Energy and cover Key Stages 1, 2 & 3.
QCA - http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes3/
The DfES ‘Standards Site’ comprises Schemes of Work, some of which relate to energy and water use. For example, there are suggestions for carrying out a geographical enquiry into resource planning and management of a suitable issue such as wind energy and water supply.
Science UPD8 - http://www.upd8.org.uk/
Science UPD8 is a new concept – translating the latest breakthroughs and science behind the news, into inspiring activities. There are activities on climate change and energy use for both primary and secondary pupils.
The Water School - http://www.thewaterschool.co.uk/
This web site has been produced by Water UK and comprises activities for improving water conservation in schools.
