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.

NATIONAL ELEMENTARY LEVEL SCHOOL OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Sue H. Morrow Elementary School

Henderson, NV

Project Title: “Environmental Warriors!”– Keepers of the Earth

Project Adviser: Kimberly Carriero

We enjoyed building electrical quiz boards, hydropower turbines, and Solar Houses. We taught most classrooms about recycling, conservation, and energy sources. We created school wide recycling, gardening, and composting programs. We handed out energy efficient light bulbs, created recycled jewelry for fundraisers, and asked everyone to sign the ENERGY STAR Pledge. Southwest Gas did an assembly at our school, where we sang our own energy songs. To further enhance our knowledge, we used NEED Games and Icebreakers, Energy Infobooks, presented information from Career Current Newsletters, and experimented with NEED kits.

A local company, Saving Energy Solar, brought a portable solar trailer to our school. We entered their Solar Essay Contest and had three winners! On our field trip to University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s Atomic Testing Museum and Solar Panel sites, we passed out “Energy Saving” brochures and even composted the cores to our apple snacks!

A high school student, Joe Woodbury, came to our class to share his Solar Energy Bill and help us create our own. We sent our Solar Bill ideas to Melissa Woodbury, our State Assemblywoman, who agreed to work with us. Learning about Evans Wadongo, who makes solar lamps for poor villages in Kenya, inspired us to make a difference globally. We donated to his cause as well as to the Japan Nuclear Disaster Relief.

Leadership is one of the best skills we learned. We understand if we don’t act now, our world will suffer. Give pollution the boot, and give energy a chance!