MEEC Additional Info

Why is the understanding of energy important for Maine's students? Energy is all around us. It is a part of who we are and all we do, from the energy that powers the clock that wakes us in the morning to the energy stored in the food that keeps us going. Not only does energy power us and the gagets we use but it also powers our climate and every process that occurs on Earth. Yet, even though energy is behind everything we do, energy and its relation to us and our environment is misunderstood by so many. This misunderstanding can and is having large implications in our individual decisions as well as those made at the local and state levels.

In order to understand the role energy plays in today's changing world it is critical that Maine's students be what we call, energy literate. Almost daily we see, hear, read about, and experience changes that are happening to our planet and its species including us. It is essential that we guide our students to ask, explore, and answer the question, “What role does energy play in our lives and our changing world?” Energy moves us, lights our world, keeps us warm, cooks our food, runs our cars, powers our homes and schools, manages our climate; the list is endless.

Children are naturally curious and energy is a very curious “thing”. It is something we struggle to define but can easily see the evidence of. Because of this, the goal of Maine's energy curriculum is to provide guided experiences that will challenge our students’ ideas about energy, complicate their thinking if you will. Maine’s energy curriculum is designed to foster energy literacy among our students by incorporating components of successful science education strategies. The use of strategies such as inquiry, literacy, essential questionioning, critical thinking, and creative problem solving addresses the need for Maine students to actively engage in exploring energy’s role in their lives thus guiding them in the ability to make educated, informed, and responsible decisions about their energy choices.

The Maine Energy Education Curriculum is divided into 3 grade level spans each with its own unique theme.

The guiding theme of grades 4-5, “Energy Lights Maine!” focuses on light, where we get it, how we use it, and what its link is to our environment. Light energy is so common in our everyday lives that we take it for granted. How often do we think about and discuss light, where we get it, how we use it, and the effects of its generation and use on our world? As a society this is something that we are thinking about and questioning more often.

In grades 6-7 the guiding theme “Energy Heats Maine!” focuses on heat transfers. Another focus of this grade span is exploring how we Mainers use heat in our everyday lives and the pros and cons of these choices economically and environmentally. Heat energy travels from warm to cool. This is a major concept that for many children (and adults) is counterintuitive and will be explored during this unit. We use heat to warm our homes and ourselves, cook our food, and warm our water for bathing as well as for many other purposes. Where does all the heat energy that we use in Maine come from? Are there some sources that are more efficient than others? Are there ways to keep the heat energy where we want it? While exploring these ideas students will also examine the effects of heat production and usage on our health, economy, and our world.

Then in grades 7-8 the guiding theme is “Energy Powers Maine!”. The harnessing and use of energy has become the defining issue of our time and the technologies to address this issue are advancing everyday. As individuals and as a society we are continually making decisions on how we use and obtain energy. Our students read about and hear about energy at home, at school, and through the media. What does it all mean? During this unit of study students will examine the different ways we use energy to light our world, heat our homes and work places, run our machines, and get us from place to place. They will investigate the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources, effects of energy usage on their health and the health of the environment, and the role of energy conservation.