Mississippi Development Authority–Energy Division

Contact: Lisa Campbell

Tel: (601) 359-6600

Email: lcampbell@mississippi.org

Teachers can access NEED curriculum online. As resources are available, teacher workshops and hands-on kits are available. Individual state curriculum correlations are available here.

George Hawkins Elementary School

Hattiesburg, MS

Project Title: The Energy Light

Project Adviser: Margaret Aderholdt

The “Hawkin’s Lightning Bugs” of Hawkins Elementary School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi are an excited bunch of first grade students who were eager to learn about the various forms of energy and conservation. Through engaging activities and lessons, the class members became energy savvy and were able to take their knowledge home to their families. Then they helped on the school-wide Science Day sharing the energy message. Finally, our Energy Project was shared on the district website and Hawkin’s website. They were able to reach many people through these events and sites.

We learned about the five forms of energy and how they impact us in our daily lives, from the food we eat and the school busses we ride to the lights that keep our homes bright. While learning about these various forms of energy, we also talked about how we can conserve energy in our own ways and share our knowledge, thereby impacting our families, community, and the world.

We look forward to continuing with our NEED project and taking our knowledge to the community to teach others about energy and how to conserve it!

Johnson Elementary School

Jackson, MS

Project Title: Saving the Day

Project Adviser: Latoya Johnson

In August 2011, the students in Ms. Latoya Johnson’s fourth grade class at Johnson Elementary decided to organize a club at their school to help save energy and teach other students and adults in their school and community about energy. They called themselves the Energy Heroes and created a motto “We are saving the day by saving energy.” Before beginning to organize activities to educate others about energy, the students were required to participate in several energy lessons conducted by their teacher. Once they had discovered the meaning of energy, its sources, and importance, the students were able to create their own energy goals. It was these goals that led to a number of energy activities at Johnson Elementary and in the surrounding community. The students acted as educators and created their own energy lessons, then adopted lower level classes to teach younger students about energy. During an energy scavenger hunt, students had to find items relating to energy that the Energy Heroes hid. Then, the students explained how each item was related to energy. These are just two of the many activities that the students conducted. To discover the other activities of the Energy Heroes, we invite you to view our scrapbook.