Watt Watchers of Texas: Texas is Too Good To Waste™

Energy Conservation Resources for Elementary School

Energy conservation is an important topic and needs to be at the forefront of every conversation concerning the best ways to preserve our planet’s precious resources.

At Watt Watchers of Texas, we understand the critical nature of the energy conservation effort, and we want to encourage participation from everyone, including kids. Whether they are in kindergarten or 12th grade or anywhere in between, we believe that children should be aware of the benefits of saving energy, why the effort is important, and what kind of role they can have in the process. It’s not just for adults!

Why is Energy Conservation Important? 

Our planet has a very limited amount of non-renewable resources, and humans have been using those resources for a long time. They have been depleted over the years, and it takes much longer for those resources to return, if they ever do. Because of this, it is critical that we discover new ways to harness and utilize renewable resources as well as conserve energy to reduce the depletion of the non-renewable resources.
It is everyone’s duty (even kids) to do their part in conserving energy throughout the course of their day. From simply turning off a light when you leave a room to limiting the length of your shower to swapping old light bulbs for new, energy efficient ones, every bit of participation helps.
As adults, we understand the benefits of energy conservation, especially when it comes to the monthly utility bills. The more energy we use, the higher the bills. So, it’s an obvious step to reduce our energy consumption in order to save money and help the planet as well. Children, however, may not immediately understand the advantages of energy conservation, so it is critical that they begin to learn these lessons at an early age. And the best way for kids to learn and enjoy the process is through education activities that encourage energy conservation, teach kids about its importance, and show them that saving energy can be fun.

Energy Curriculum Resources for Elementary School Teachers

Kids spend a large majority of their time at school throughout most of the year, so it is important that teachers have the resources available to them to teach their students about energy conservation. Watt Watchers of Texas is founded on the principle of boosting energy literacy for students in grades K-12 as well as helping schools save money through energy conservation efforts. We are a state-sponsored STEM program, and we are proud to provide students, teachers, and families access to energy saving tips, activities, and lessons to encourage energy literacy. Watt Watchers believes that Texas is too good waste, so we make all of our resources freely available for download and use.
Student Patrols are one of the most exciting parts of Watt Watchers, and it was designed especially with elementary school children in mind. Students will join forces with Lil’ Tex and Ann as official Watt Watchers in their effort to save Texas by rounding up the Wasters Gang and preventing energy waste. When your students join the Student Patrol, we have lots of downloadable forms and templates to encourage students to always keep an eye out for signs of the Wasters Gang.
In addition to the Student Patrol Program, Watt Watchers of Texas also provides teachers with plenty of free energy education activities designed to supplement an energy conservation and energy efficiency curriculum. They are divided into seven themes (at home, cooling and heating, electrocity, food, materials, transportation, and water) as well as grade level (K-12). They range from making a daily menu to hunting for recyclables to graphing emissions and everything in between. Whatever lesson you are working on, Watt Watchers has at least one activity to help you demonstrate to your students the benefits of energy conservation.

Check out these great activities for grades K-5!

Controlling Water with Building Blocks

Humans have used dams since ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations restricted the flow of rivers and the extent of floods with earth and mason structures. Either simple or complex, the purpose of the dam is to control the flow of water.

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Recycle Signage

Even in places where it is easy to recycle because of school-wide or community-wide initiatives, many people are confused about what and where to recycle. Students can help other students by creating instructive visual signage for waste collection areas.

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What’s in My Lunch?

Students bring their lunch to school for lots of reasons, dislike of school food, special diet, to fit in with other kids, etc. Many times at home, parents have the greatest of intentions when making or purchasing the food that goes into those lunches.

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Garbage, Waste, and Trash

Students will discuss the meaning of garbage, waste and trash. They will then investigate their classroom trash to learn about the variety and amount of trash they produce.

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Paper Capers

This activity focuses on the concept of a source reduction. Also known as waste prevention, source reduction decreases the amount of material entering the waste stream.

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Junk Art

This activity focuses on the “reuse” theme of reduce-reuse-recycle. Students collect waste materials (paper, bottles, cans, cardboard tubes, fabric, etc) and find other uses for them either practically, for a school project, or as art objects.

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Making Recycled Paper

Students have the opportunity to become part of the “recycle” process by breaking down used paper and recreating a new, usable product from the waste. This activity can be messy, as students produce paper pulp and then dry it to new sheets of paper.

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How Many Years to Disappear?

Students may watch the garbage people come by and think that their waste magically disappears. Some may have been to the dump with a parent and some may have a compost pile or “dump” of their own on their land.

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Where’s My Water?

For most people, water is all around us. Open the faucet and water flows into the sink immediately.

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How Much Food Do You Waste?

Students will track and measure their food consumption over two weeks to learn more about waste and strategies to reduce food waste.

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Gardening with Students

Make planters using recycled cans and grow an herb garden.

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Water Conservation at Home

Reducing water waste saves water, energy, and money. Did you know, heating water alone counts for an average of 15% of total household energy use?

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Contact Watt Watchers for More Energy Conservation Resources for Elementary School 

At Watt Watchers of Texas, we are dedicated to helping schools reduce their energy consumption as well as waste so that we can all make a positive impact on the environment. We also want to help schools reduce their monthly costs on utility bills so that they can save that money for something more beneficial to the whole school. 

If you are a teacher or administrator who is interested in getting your school involved in the Watt Watchers of Texas energy conservation program, contact us today. We have all of the resources, information, and activities you could need to ensure a successful implementation of our program. Your kids will love knowing that they are helping Lil’ Tex and Ann and feel proud to be making a difference while they learn about the environment. 

Watt Watchers of Texas
204 E. Dean Keeton Street, Austin, Texas 78712

contact@watt-watchers.com

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