New trends in physics teaching, v.4; The ... - unesdoc - Unesco

New Trends in Physics Teaching IV
These local and conservation-oriented programmes led to more ambitious efforts. In the early
seventies the Edison Electric Institute developed and tested the Energy Environment Game - a
board game based on the problem of selecting and siting an electric power plant. This was
distributed to schools through local electricity supply companies.
On the West Coast a co-operative effort between some of the electric companies and educators
began the development of the Energy and Man’s Environment (EME) project which now runs its
teacher awareness workshops and training sessions in fifteen states. EME has been joined more
recently by ‘Captain Power’, a course for second and third graders produced for the San Diego
(California) Gas and Electric Company, the ‘Energy Information Resource Kit’ series for high
school students sponsored by the Edison Electric Institute and two energy books - one on
energy conservation and the other on energy sources - funded by Exxon.
An overall view of the variety of material which fits the description ‘energy education’ can be
obtained from a survey of the informal PEEC curriculum library. This library, built of materials
sent by developers all over the country, now contains some 400 items, ranging from brief background
pieces on the energy crisis and suggested lists of activities on energy to curriculum projects
extending over the whole range of schools from kindergarten to grade 12. While this library is
not a complete collection, it is probably representative of the major efforts.
Of the 4 12 separate pieces cataloged, 133 could be called curriculum units. Some 20 of these
are directed at all grades, 32 are for elementary classes, another 32 for middle or junior high class,
41 are targeted for the high school and 8 are for Two-Year or Junior Colleges.
The developers are equally varied. Of the 309 pieces that are instructional units (rather than
directories, policy statements, articles, etc.), 27 were developed by State Energy Offices, 52 by
State Education Agencies, 53 were produced by some federal agency, 30 by local school districts,
and 4 by individual teachers (this figure is probably distorted; the library would not be likely to
receive much material directly from teachers). There were 77 items produced by corporations or
by others in the private sector and 66 by non-profit groups or universities. As pointed out, much
of the effort at the state level and in the non-profit groups was ultimately dependent on federal
funds.
We have also looked at those projects with clear energy themes. That breakdown is recorded
in Table 1. As expected, ‘conservation’ themes dominate the list. The absence of materials
on nuclear energy is striking (although a few are included under the category ‘fuels’).
TABLE 1. Number of Projects Having Clear Energy Themes
Theme
Conservation
Energy Basics/Awareness
Solar
Environment/Ecology
Energy Management
Buildings/Transport
Fuels
(including nuclear, biomass)
Careers
Total
146
Total
64
53
36
25
32
53
13
276