Educational Resources
Programs
Puget Sound Energy offers free environmental education programs to middle school classrooms. The Powerful Choices for the Environment Program helps students understand how our energy, water, waste reduction and transportation choices affect ecosystems through a series of hands-on, inquiry-based activities brought right to your classroom. A Program Overview DVD is available to borrow - call 596-6112 to make your request today. Find out more by visiting their website.
Looking to incorporate more energy education into the classroom and explore energy use at your school? National environmental education program Project Learning Tree now offers ENERGY & SOCIETY workshops and education kits. K-8 Educators can receive training and materials at no cost. Local workshops are currently under development in cooperation with the Washington Forest Protection Association. If you are interested in attending a workshop or would like to borrow materials to view, please contact Brittin Witzenburg at 596-6112 or bwitzenburg@osd.wednet.edu.
**RECENTLY UPDATED!**
The Thurston County Environmental Education Guide is a great resource for teachers, providing information about educational offerings on the topics of Air Quality, Water Quality, Hazardous Waste, and Waste Reduction. Many local organizations are available for classroom or school presentations and provide materials for educational activities.
The City of Olympia’s Stream Team is an education-to-action program for people interested in protecting and enhancing our local streams, rivers, lakes, and Puget Sound. They offer fun and educational activities throughout the year to the community and in schools. Find out more about the 2005 program at their website.
Websites
Classroom Earth is a comprehensive website dedicated to simplifying the search for environmental education ideas, curriculum & resources. It's easy to use, pleasant to look at, and provides convenient links to all of the best environmental education programs rated by teachers and other educators.
Become an offical Energy Hog Buster! Learn how to uncover potential energy hogs in your home & school and find out what to do about it. At www.energyhog.org inspect the virtual floorplan while you identify areas of high energy use, and play the games that will help you reach bonafide Energy Hog Buster status. Teachers and parents are included, too! Explore ways to incorporate energy education into to the classroom and home with this interactive guide.
Find out how to locally recycle nearly everything at Earth911. This handy guide includes topics on composting, electronics disposal, energy conservation and more! There's also a Kids & Teachers page for other educational resources! Excellent resource for the classroom and home.
Fundraisers & Grants for Schools
A+ for Energy - Grant & Scholarship Opportunity
A+ for Energy, a BP Energy Education Program will award up to $5 million in grants and scholarships to preK-12 teachers
for innovative classroom, after-school, extra-curricular, or summer
projects focused on energy and/or energy conservation aligned with the
application criteria. Grants will be awarded directly to teachers,
reflecting the budget request submitted with the application.
Energy
is all around us! It is suggested to focus the project on one or more
energy topics, such as: Solar - Biomass - Hydropower - Propane -
Geothermal - Natural Gas - Petroleum - Wind - Coal - Hydrogen - Uranium
(Nuclear) - Energy efficiency - Energy conservation - Alternative
technologies. Go to http://www.aplusforenergy.com/ .
FEED YOUR ROOTS!
Global Inheritance and the ROOTS present FEED YOUR ROOTS, a campaign to educate and integrate composting in schools across the United States. Every school will have the opportunity to win their own ROOTS compost bin that’s autographed by the band. Schools will be judged on their creativity in designing the school composting program and developing a compost poster to generate awareness among students. This is an exciting way to jump start a composting and waste reduction program at your school! All elementary, middle and high schools are eligible to participate.
Washington Sustainable School Awards
Each year the Washington State Department of Ecology presents the Sustainable Schools Awards Program. Selected applications receive a cash award from Ecology for waste reduction, recycling, resource conservation, and sustainability activities.
The Terry Husseman Sustainable School Awards program recognizes Washington State Public schools (K-12) for their successes managing materials in a sustainable fashion. Schools can win in three categories: Sustainable School Program, Seed Award, and Creative Environmental Curriculum. Ecology distributed $30,000 among the winners in the 2006. Applications are due in January. The winners are announced in Feburary.
Additional details can be found in Ecology's A Guide to Achieving Sustainability in Your School, publication number 02-07-022. For more information on the awards program, criteria, or ideas to foster sustainability in your school, contact the Awards Coordinator, 360-407-6129.
WAL-MART Kids Recycling Challenge
The Wal-Mart Kids Recycling Challenge is a fun and educational program that teaches elementary school students in the Western U.S. and Arkansas about the importance of recycling while earning money for their schools! Participating schools earn $5.00 for every 60-gallon collection bag they fill with plastic shopping and grocery bags and bring to a local Wal-Mart store for recycling. Schools are grouped into regions. The ten schools in each region to bring in the most collection bags win additional rewards of up to $3,000. Get signed up today!