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Sunday, April 17, 2011

4 Interesting Ways to Help Educate Students on Environment and Renewable Energy in a Classroom Setting

Renewable energy involves the use of renewable sources such as sun, wind, water, and steam to produce energy. It is important to create awareness among people, especially kids, for the use of such energy sources to help save the environment. In a classroom setting, what teachers can do is help educate students by including topics of renewable energy and its conservation in lessons plans; increase awareness of students by assigning projects on renewable energy; arouse interest by bringing students to a field trip; and help conserve energy by constantly reminding kids to do their part.

The use of renewable energy can help save our mother Earth and make it a conducive place to live for future generations. When it comes to saving the environment, there are many things and many ways that students can learn from their school. Here are some interesting ways that will help increase awareness among students on renewable energy and saving the environment through its use:

Help educate students by including topics of renewable energy and its conservation in lessons plans

The best way to instill enough awareness and knowledge among children in school is to include topics of renewable as well as non-renewable energy in lesson plans. There may be other ways of introducing such topic to children, but these children would gain in-depth knowledge if you discuss it in detail during your classes and not just in passing. Research and home works that you can associate with renewable energy will also help them understand the relevance of such energy source better. Furthermore, children will be able to realize the importance of such energy sources to help save the environment as well as the importance of energy conservation for non-renewable energy.

Increase awareness of students by assigning projects on renewable energy

As we all know and agree, experience is the best teacher. classroom environmental energy science projects are great means to educate children on renewable energy. A hands-on experience with renewable energy will not only let them gain enough knowledge on the nature of these energy sources, but will also help them understand the importance of such energy sources to saving the world we live in. It will further encourage application of such energy sources in their own ways, maybe at home. In most cases, parents will be guiding their kids towards completing their projects, thus spreading the knowledge to more responsible individuals. Hopefully, parents would think of ways to apply these helpful renewable energy sources at home to help save the environment and at the same time save on electricity expenses.

Arouse interest by bringing students to a field trip

Kids love to go around places. They love to go on a field trip and it is very memorable for them, making it a very effective way to educate them. Bring them to places that utilize renewable energy like dams, geothermal plants, and wind mills. You can even show them some houses that make use of solar power for their personal consumption.

Help conserve energy by constantly reminding kids to do their part

Children tend to be more cooperative and obedient in school. It helps a lot to constantly remind them to help conserve energy in school and at home such as by turning off lights before leaving the classroom and their bedrooms. Help them understand why we all need to make an effort in conserving energy and save the environment. Explain to them some facts and examples of renewable and non-renewable energy sources and encourage them in their own ways to make use of renewable energy at home. You can illustrate to them the common usage of solar panels at home as an example.

These are just some of the ways to help educate children on environment and renewable energy in a classroom setting. What is important is that you make your activities as interesting as possible to make them more effective. You can even include some games, contests, and quiz bees to make learning more fun for children.


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Dont' Dream, It's over...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Flat World Knowledge for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was in the university, access to textbooks was one of the biggest challenges for me. I belong to a family whose financial status is but a few steps short to being called middle class. I had to take scholarship programs. But just like any other programs, it only covers the school tuition but not the miscellaneous expenses. That means we have to shell out cash to pay for the PE uniforms, laboratory fees, and of course -- text books.

I'm sure a lot of students are going through the same hurdles now, and now that I'm working as an English instructor in a theological school, I found a little help in the web to help lessen the university expenses.

During my web surfing, I came across Flat World Knowledge. It's an online book publishing site offering almost all the books we need to meet the demands of being a college student. Not only that, Flat World Knowledge textbooks are FREE if you access it online, while downloading offline prints cost around $35, and only $25 if you download it in other formats.


This has opened a great door of opportunity for my students to complete their course because access to textbooks is a perfect motivation for them. In fact, results of a recent study conducted by the Gates Foundation (http://www.publicagenda.org/) is mirrored in our students: while 60% of students who did not graduate claimed that textbooks and other fees play a big role in their performance, 58% of those who actually graduated were grateful that access to the same factors did help them finish college.

I always tell my students that investing for their future is never a loss. We may have to spend a little, but hey, it's only for the meantime. What little sacrifice we make today yields great reward in the future. What are you waiting for? Visit their site and request more info and Spread the word to your kids, students, and friends. In support to adoption of alternatives to expensive textbooks, encourage them to sign the petition to Textbook Rebellion.

Finishing college is neither a privilege nor an impossible dream anymore. With the right tools, like Flat World Knowledge textbooks, we can actually get what we have always wanted in life. Day dreaming is finally over; it's now time to wake up and pursue that dream.

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Sunday, April 10, 2011