With funding from the National Science Foundation, AAAS Project 2061 has been exploring the feasibility of developing an integrated STEM course for the middle grades around the theme of Green Schools and energy conservation. We completed an outline for such a course and collected feedback on it in a survey of science educators last year.
Survey respondents were generally receptive to the concept of a Green Schools curriculum and thought that it was consistent with recommendations in the Next Generation Science Standards and would be interesting to students. However, respondents were concerned about whether their schools had the human and physical resources needed to successfully implement a course like this in their curriculum.
We are now asking for your feedback to help us get a clearer picture of what might be possible.
Based on the survey results and additional input from scientists and science education experts, we have revised the Green Schools course outline, which now includes a number of suggestions for activities in which students are asked to analyze and use actual data on their school's energy usage. For example, students would examine and track trends in data on how energy is used in their school buildings and how much the energy for each of these functions costs. They would compare their school's energy usage to that of other schools and share data and ideas for conserving energy online with students at other schools.
With these activities in mind, please click on the "Next" button to answer a few questions.
Thank you for your help!
