The price for oil keeps going up and the raw material comes to an end, so we must plan our future with new energies. European Schoolnet and PlasticsEurope (an association of plastic manufacturing companies) organise "a set of three school competitions that are designed to be integrated in any school curricula in Europe. The competitions provide teachers and students with the opportunity to work on energy-related themes that are complemented by a relevant collection of online resources. "
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurener[...]
[ Those competitions provide interesting resources to study the topic, an opportunity to collaborate with foreign partners in English and chat sessions to discuss the topic online with professionals. The competition is also a ready-made end of unit task, corresponding to the new task based approach to languages according to the Common Framework for languages (CECRL in French). The first contest can be done by beginners, and the last, with 5 brain challenges, can be done transcurricular in European sections where another subject (earth sciences, physics, biology, geography) are taught in English.
For 7 -14 year olds
Profile the future hero
"This competition aims to familiarise students with energy-related topics and encourages them to experience peer-to-peer discussion on energy efficiency. Students are expected to incorporate the latest energy saving solutions and ideas into a visual composition and a text description."
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/com[...]
The adventures of FuturEnergia hero
"This competition focuses on creating an entry that is based on a set of five given scenarios. The scenarios aim to raise awareness about energy-related topics and consolidate knowledge about energy sub-topics such as climate change."
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/comp[...]
[ note that you can link this competition to a teaching unit about super heroes in the style of Florinda Fernandes's excellent work. See the lesson plan and the production of her students:
http://englishingambier.over-blog.com/article-5429310.html
http://englishingambier.over-blog.com/article-15326714.html ]
For 14 - 20 year olds
Wanna be a hero?
"This competition gives the opportunity to study and imagine alternative ways of living in order to tackle climate change. The competition enables students to acquire knowledge and skills in the field of sciences through a number of preparatory activities."
http://www.futurenergia.org/ww/en/pub/futurenergia2007/[...]
Chat session on January 31st
On january 31st at 14:00 CET, two experts, Dr Roger Van der Linden (Group Manager for Environment, Energy and Product Stewardship - Borealis) and Dr Joachim Krueger (Executive Director of the Energy, HSE & Logistics Programme - Cefic) will answer students' questions on the theme : "Petrochemicals : environment friends or ennemies?" All schools are welcome to take part in this chat session organised in English by Xperimania. To register, send a mail to : xperimania@eun.org
And for more information and projects about sciences (physics, chemistry, industrial sciences, technology) explore this wonderful site:
http://www.xperimania.net