Experience Energy for Grades 3-8
In Experience Energy, you will see plenty of scientific vocabulary and connections to NGSS. However, you will notice that this curriculum also supports a more holistic approach to energy learning. Socioemotional learning is uplifted in a number of ways, such as embedding coping strategies into lessons to aid students as they learn about emotionally charged topics. This curriculum also supports social justice standards and encourages students to view their communities with a justice lens, thinking critically about who has access to energy, who makes decisions about energy sources, and how those energy sources impact people differently depending on their race, income, ability, location, etc. This lens, coupled with the other pedagogical approaches chosen, strive to make climate and energy more relatable and culturally responsive to students.
It is our hope that through this interdisciplinary approach, students see that social, economic, and environmental systems are connected through a thread of energy, and that climate and energy issues are intertwined.
In the final two lessons, students take what they’ve learned to focus on climate change solutions and visioning what it would be like to have a just transition to a clean energy future. A just transition is a multidimensional concept describing that when we transition away from a fossil fuel-based economy, no one is left behind, and that everyone benefits from the new systems we create. This will look different for different communities, and students today will be at the forefront of determining its direction in their local context.
For students, shaping this future can begin at school. As you know, education is a climate solution, and schools are learning hubs for not only students but the broader community as well. Seeing and using schools as living laboratories - places that bring science, engineering, and education together using their own environment and infrastructure - is an opportunity to encourage students to BE scientists and social leaders working on climate solutions in their own community. By embedding climate solutions into curriculum, schools as living laboratories help build the technical and adaptive skills students need to work intergenerationally as leaders in their schools and communities.
Interested in learning more about how other educators have used this resource? Check out these case studies!
