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For the Classroom
The following resources are intended to help schools, teachers, students and families learn how electricity works and how to use it safely.
"Energize Minds for Solar Design" Solar Grant Program
SMUD's Solar Grant Program "Energize Minds for Solar Design" provides a limited number of grants to high school and community college educators and students (within SMUD territory) to develop and implement solar projects that help teach about solar technology and practical applications.
Deadline for submission: March 31, 2008
Educator Workshop - Spring 2008
Solar Schoolhouse Primer: Workshop for Educators (Grades 3-12)
April 14 and 15, 2008 – Teacher Workshop - 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. (No Charge)
In this two-day workshop, Tor Allen and Dr. Hal Aaronson, from the Rahus Institute, will show you how to easily integrate solar energy education into your existing curriculum while teaching students the value of using renewable energy sources. You will receive hands-on classroom activities, correlated to the California content standards, the video, “Your Solar Home,” as well as first-hand experience building a solar cooker and a solar powered whirligig for your classroom.
GEMS® Acid Rain and Chemical Reactions (Grades 4-8)
April 26, 2008 – Teacher Workshop - 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. (No Charge)
Acid Rain encourages teachers to help present to their students ways to analyze complex environmental issues and emphasize community cooperation in the search for alternative energy sources. This unit which fosters scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills introduces activities which include learning about acids and bases, the pH scale, the effects of acid rain on plants and the environment and a discussion about potential solutions to environmental problems. Chemical Reactions builds student interest in science by allowing the exploration of chemical change through the use of ordinary Ziplock bags as a laboratory tool to mix chemicals that bubble, change color, and produce gas. Students study the energy transformations of heat, light and sound energy. Educators learn skills that will help to encourage students improve their skills in observation, experimentation and inference.
Using the Internet to Enhance Your Science Curriculum (Grades 7-12)
May 1, 2008 – Teacher Workshop - 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. (No Charge)
Sarah DiRuscio will teach participants practical strategies and techniques for enhancing, enriching and extending science curriculum by making the best use of the Internet, including ways to create and utilize a classroom web site and easy to use activities and science lessons designed specifically to support earth, physical, and life science curriculum with an emphasis on sustainability concepts will be supplied.
Solar Summer Institute
A weeklong workshop at Walker Creek near Petaluma on July 13-18th. This training provides educators hands-on experience about the science and history of heating, cooling and powering our homes with the sun and how to integrate solar energy education into curriculum. SMUD will provide five first-time participants who are educators from the SMUD District a complimentary stipend to attend the workshop; participants will be chosen based on proposed effectiveness of solar integration into curriculum and quantity of students reached.
Refer educators to http://www.solarschoolhouse.org/ssh/ssh_sie2007.html
Deadline for submission: April 1, 2008
Free electrical safety curriculum
Each year, SMUD offers free age-appropriate electrical safety booklets to be used in the classroom. These booklets serve a variety of learners through interactive games, experiments, articles, stories, and fun facts. If you have not received your order form, please visit the ordering site.
GEMS -- Great Explorations in Math and Science
The Energy & Technology Center has become a part of the network of Great Explorations in Math and Science Web sites. GEMS is a program based at the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, promoting hands-on inquiry-based science and math activities for the classroom. The program has an extensive network of sites both nationally and internationally. As a GEMS site, SMUD will focus on energy education and provide workshop opportunities for Sacramento-area teachers to have in-depth trainings with GEMS guides for use in the classroom and/or to share with colleagues. GEMS guides are correlated to California and national science content-standards and promote independent learners and critical thinkers, mastery of key math and science skills and concepts as well as to encourage positive attitudes toward math and science careers.
Louie the Lightning Bug 4th Grade Electrical Safety Program.
SMUD's "Louie the Lightning Bug 4th Grade Electrical Safety Activity Kit" provides resources for teachers to present lessons easily about electrical safety. (Available only to fourth-grade teachers at schools within the SMUD service area.)
In addition to an entertaining 11-minute electrical safety video featuring Louie the Lightning Bug, the kit includes reproducible materials for classroom activities, lesson plans, pre- and post-lesson test questions, California content-based standards applications and rubrics, sample letter to parents or caregivers, and discussion posters. Kits are reusable from year to year. Information goes beyond safety rules and also teaches basic concepts related to electricity, electrical generation, distribution and renewable energy.
Included is Louie's Lab, an electricity and magnetism CD, which has material organized into four levels: 1) science information; 2) electrical generation and distribution; 3) safety rules; and 4) two interactive games students play as a reward for having completed the lessons. Louie's Lab is shipped on a CD and will run on either a Windows or Macintosh platform. A teacher's guide and classroom certificates are contained in PDF documents. Please e-mail Suzette DelBono to order.
Interactive topics
Check out these fun, interactive ways to learn about saving energy and using electricity safely:
- Energy Dog: Let Energy Dog teach you ways to save energy. Includes a coloring book.
- Electrical Safety World: With games, quizzes and more, there's no better way than Electrical Safety World to learn about the safe use of electricity.
- Energy Efficiency World: Learn about saving energy with this game, Energy Efficiency World.
Energy links
We suggest some of our favorite references as starting points for locating additional information related to electrical energy and technology.
Safety Presentations are also available.
Education contact
Suzette DelBono, 916-732-5752