Curriculum

KEEP activity guides have been developed for Wisconsin educators based on the Conceptual Guide to K-12 Energy Education in Wisconsin, found below. These activity guides will help you as you develop your curriculum. Activities found in these guides are specific to Wisconsin and align to Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards. Revisions are ongoing, and the Energy Education, Doable Renewables, and Energy and Your School guides have also been correlated to the new Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. Printed copies of most of the guides can be requested for a nominal fee by emailing KEEP@uwsp.edu.

Conceptual Guide to K-12 Energy Education in Wisconsin

This Guide provides the conceptual framework for the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program. The Guide identifies 59 energy-related concepts within the four energy education themes:

We need energy
Developing energy resources
Effects of energy resource development
Managing energy resource use

KEEP Energy Education Activity Guide

This Guide contains 48 hands-on, interdisciplinary lessons and over 100 Energy Sparks, or suggested teaching variations, that are aligned with Common Core English Language Arts and Mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These activities make energy relevant to students' lives. The activities include all required handouts, assessment strategies, and comprehensive descriptions of the activity. This Guide is organized around four energy education themes of the Conceptual Guide: We Need Energy, Developing Energy Resources, Effects of Energy Resource Development, Managing Energy Resource Use.

Doable Renewables: Renewable Energy Education

This Guide provides 20 renewable energy hands-on activities, class discussion prompts, and classroom-based applications to help teachers analyze energy information and create strategies and techniques to enhance their students' understanding of renewable energy. Activities include Catch That Wind, Placement Matters, Renewable Candy Resources, and Working Water. The activities have been correlated to the new Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.

Energy and Your School: School Building Energy Efficiency Education

Thid Guide contains hands-on, interdisciplinary lessons to support school building energy efficiency. The lessons are aligned with Common Core English Language Arts and Mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This activities in this guide focus on evaluating the energy use in school buildings and guiding K-12 teachers towards utilizing the school building as a learning tool for energy education. Activities include Pulling the Plug on Phantom Loads, Light and Your Load, Cost of Computers, and Demanding School Electric Bills.

Know the Flow of Energy in Your School - K-4 Supplement

The KEEP Know the Flow of Energy in Your School is a supplement to the KEEP Energy Education Activity Guide specifically for teachers of kindergarten through fourth grade students. This publication includes activities that address State Academic Standards, assessments, and extensions. It is available for free download in English or Spanish.

Teachers of young students especially appreciate KEEP activities because energy is an abstract subject and their students think at the concrete operational level. KEEP activities help address the learning needs of younger students. Therefore, elementary teachers greatly desire and have requested more activities to help make energy relevant and interesting to their students’ lives. The Know the Flow of Energy in Your School supplement is designed to help the teacher use the school as an educational tool by introducing kindergarten through fourth grade students to energy in a way that connects it directly to their lives. It’s designed to make learning fun through 11 hands-on, exploratory activities.

Renewable Energy Education Activities Adapted for K-4

The activities were adapted from a variety of activity guides for K-4 teachers. Activities include Don't Waste Waste (Biomass), Let it Flow (Hydroelectricity), Schoolyard Breezes (Wind), and Solar Explorations (Solar). This document is in draft form and is available for free download.

BioFutures: Biomass Energy Education Supplement

This Guide includes activities that support awareness of biomass energy resources. It is important that students experience activities which will enable them to understand renewable energy and biomass energy concepts. Moreover, it is crucial that students gain an appreciation for renewable energy resources at an early age. This early awareness will support their further explorations of biomass energy resource development and use.

Renewable Energy in Building Science Conceptual Framework

Building Science is the branch of science dealing with construction, maintenance, safety, and energy efficiency of buildings (Krigger: glossary). By incorporating building science topics or lessons into the curriculum, you bring real life situations into the classroom. It is important to inform students (future home buyers) to recognize a healthy home.

Since a consistent building science curriculum does not exist at the high school level in Wisconsin, this framework was produced as a reference tool for teachers to use when developing their coursework. This framework serves as the foundation for a curriculum. The concepts contained within the framework provide the basis for a strong, organized and comprehensive curriculum.

In an effort to provide learning concepts in the evolving fields of building science and renewable energy, this framework aims to assist educators in building a curriculum that best fits the needs of their unique education programs. As this framework develops, we welcome constructive feedback and encourage teachers and curriculum developers to assist with modifications to make this reference tool even more comprehensive and useful for the classroom.

This framework and its concepts were derived from multiple sources, including energy education and renewable energy experts, organizations and resources, which are listed in the acknowledgment section.

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Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program