Get in the Scrap! Wintertime Energy Conservation

Get in the Scrap! A service learning project for grades 4-8 about recycling and energy conservation

With winter comes snow and ice storms (as we saw last week), longer nights and shorter days, and evenings cozied up indoors. It’s also the season of the furnace or heater working overtime, long hot showers, and cold air seeping through cracked and old windows.

With chilly temperatures keeping us inside,  it’s the perfect time for you and your students to be more aware of energy consumption and how we can all help promote efficiency and conservation. Here are some simple ways:

Sign up your classroom for Get in the Scrap!, the Museum’s service learning project for grades 4-8 about recycling and energy conservation. Your students have the power to affect positive change on the environment, much like students played a positive role on the Home Front by scrapping for victory in WWII. Here’s how it all works:

After signing up, your students complete a variety of activities in the project toolkit and the Museum will award them prizes for their efforts. There are a couple that are particularly timely for winter:

1. Your students can conduct an energy audit in their classroom and/or home. Time your morning shower, check how many old incandescent bulbs are in the space, count how many items are plugged in at one time. This will get them focused on a variety of simple ways they can start conserving energy. It’s the perfect activity when you’re stuck inside on a snow day!

2.  Your class can design personalized switch plates to remind everyone to turn off the light when they are leaving the room. They can come up with their own effective slogan or eye-catching design to encourage people to flip the switch! Check out the neat design on the right from a Hamlin Academy student in Evergreen Park, Illinois.

These two projects alone are worth 16 points and set your students well on their way to their first prize (a cool recycle bin-shaped magnet for the fridge).

Get started with Get in the Scrap! today and make a difference in your school, home, community, and even the planet!

Post by Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator