Energy Education Materials are a Hit!

Author: Guest Author; Published: Aug 8, 2011; Category: Classroom materials, Classroom presentations, Education outreach, Energy, Energy Conservation, Energy Education, Energy sources, Environment, Geology, Math, Renewable energy, Science; Tags: Children, Classroom Instruction, Education, Energy, energy challenges, Energy Conservation, Energy4me, Lesson Plans, Math, natural gas, Petroleum, Renewable, School, science, Student, sustainability, Teacher; Comments: Be the first

Guest Author – Mary Spruill, Executive Director, National Energy Education Development Project (NEED)

Energy4Me materials developed in partnership with NEED are a huge hit and will be used by NEED’s trainers throughout the 2011-2012 school year.

Throughout the year, The NEED Project (www.need.org) and Energy4me, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) energy education program, work together on many energy education activities including the Teacher and Student Workshop at the Offshore Technology Conference and the Teacher and Student Workshop at SPE’s ATCE.  Each summer though, NEED’s energy programs get bigger and faster paced with so many kids and teachers to reach in only a few short weeks.  This June and July were no exception with over 550 kids and teachers in Washington, D.C. to participate in the 31st Annual NEED Youth Awards for Energy Achievement.  This event recognizes school groups who commit to learning about energy and to sharing their knowledge with their peers, their teachers and their communities.  Students submit portfolios of  their energy programming in April for review at the state and national level, and the winning schools come spend 4 days in the Nation’s Capital sharing their energy work, touring our monuments and museums, and meeting with elected and appointed officials.

On a sleepy Sunday morning during the conference – the kids are up early and working on hands-on activities featuring the lessons provided by Energy4Me and some lessons that NEED and Energy4Me created together.  The students are learning about porosity and permeability, and the work needed to bring oil and natural gas to market.  They learn about transportation efficiency too and consider ways to make the vehicles of tomorrow and their own driving habits more efficient too.  The activities from Energy4Me are engaging, fun, and provide students with the background they need to really understand the oil and natural gas resources we use each day.  They leave with big smiles, new friends, and new activities to take home to their communities and share.

As soon as the Youth Awards wraps up, NEED’s training team heads out to the NEED National Energy Conference for Educators.  This year’s conference in Denver, Colorado hosted 150 educators from across the country and from Thailand and the Saipan.  For a week, the educators were like students at summer camp – learning about each other and about energy so they could return to their classrooms and teach energy with excitement and fun.  The Energy4Me activities and the presentation resources allow students and teachers alike to look more deeply into oil and natural gas development and use.  This year’s opening speaker was Don McClure, Vice President for Community Relations, Legal and Finance at EnCana, one of America’s largest natural gas producers.  Don’s extensive background in energy provided teachers with a look at how diverse the industry is, the number of jobs available for all types of students, and the challenges and opportunities that abound in developing natural gas in America.  In the days that followed, teachers learned about density, drilling technologies, properties of oil and natural gas and are prepared to take the lessons home and open up the oil and natural gas world to their students.

But that’s not all.  After Denver, the team packed up and traveled to La Quinta, California for NEED’s Facilitator Training Conference.  This conference is hosted every few years and brings together teachers, NEED’s training staff, and energy professionals from many companies and  agencies to sharpen their facilitation skills, to train on new content and new materials, and to learn how to deliver energy curriculum and training to teachers in NEED’s 600+ energy trainings each year.  This year’s group of 40 trainers rolled up their sleeves and researched and presented about America’s leading energy sources, they debated the advantages and disadvantages of the energy sources we use today, and they developed methods to share energy information with teachers and students nationwide. The It is a busy (but fun!) summer and together with SPE, NEED is reaching thousands of teachers and students each year.  As America’s teachers head back to school this month, let’s take a minute to thank them and to encourage them to teach about energy as often as possible in class!

For the 2011-2012 NEED curriculum guides or to register for a NEED workshop near you visit www.need.org!

 

North-east schools get educated at All-Energy 2011

Author: Guest Author; Published: May 23, 2011; Category: Classroom materials, Classroom presentations, Education outreach, Energy, Energy Education, Engineering Careers, Geology, Math, Renewable energy, Science, SPE members, Technology, Uncategorized, Volunteering; Tags: Careers, Children, Classroom Instruction, Education, Energy, energy challenges, Energy4me, Engineering, Engineering Careers, School, science, SPE, Student, Teacher, Technology, Volunteer; Comments: Be the first

All-Energy hosted an Education Day at its 2011 conference Thursday 19th May to help educate local schools about a range of renewable topics.

Organised by Aberdeen Council, Aberdeenshire Council, the Energy Institute and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen, the event is aimed at teachers and careers advisors to help raise awareness of the Renewable sector.

The event also hosted the final of the ‘Electrocity Challenge’ where five teams of four children from Meldrum Academy, Peterhead Academy, Mackie Academy, Turriff Academy and Mintlaw Academy went head to head in an “ElectroCity” Competition.   ElectroCity is an online game that has been developed specifically for teachers and students between years 7 and 9. Students build and manage their own virtual towns and cities, making important decisions and learning about energy generation and environmental management. Representatives from a range of businesses led round tables to provide valuable industry information to subject-specialist teachers and career guidance experts.

Colin Black, SPE CG Chairman, Aberdeen Section, said:  “This event focuses on sharing information with teachers and pupils so they are better informed about the ‘whole energy’ sector and careers within it.  This includes the ‘energy mix’ of hydrocarbons and renewable as well as the vital role the oil and gas sector plays now and in the future.

This is a global energy industry with many opportunities for young people – SPE Aberdeen aims to continue to provide background information, facts, guidance on career paths and information on how to enter the industry.  This event is a positive step towards this.” 

SPE Aberdeen, along with other hosts, provided tour guides for teachers and pupils to meet many of the businesses exhibiting at the show. 

SPE collaboration with Schools is part of the global SPE initiative http://www.energy4me.org/  and SPE volunteers will be working closely with Schools during various events throughout this next term and anyone wishing to lend support should contact the Aberdeen Section, Career Guidance Committee at CG-Aberdeen@spemail.org

Join in the fun and help celebrate Engineers Week February 20-26!

Author: Heather Stanford; Published: Feb 17, 2011; Category: Classroom materials, Classroom presentations, Education outreach, Energy, Energy Education, Energy sources, Engineering Careers, Geology, Math, Science, SPE members, Technology, Uncategorized, Volunteering; Tags: Careers, Children, Classroom Instruction, Education, Energy, Energy4me, Engineering, Engineering Careers, eWeek, School, SPE, Teacher, Technology, Volunteer; Comments: Comments Off

Engineers Week is a global program that promotes math, science and technological literacy while encouraging students to consider a career in engineering by raising awareness of the positive contributions engineers make in today’s society. This year’s events will take place February 20-26, 2011, with additional events in March.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a sponsoring society of Engineers Week and hopes to attract bright young people to the exciting world of engineering. Many of SPE’s local sections use Energy4me to bring Engineers Week to their communities through activities such as:

• Giving classroom presentations

Energy – Making Our Lives Easier (elementary)

Petroleum Engineers Make a World of Difference (intermediate/secondary)

Game – Petroleum Engineers Make a World of Difference (intermediate/secondary)

Energy’s Grand Challenges (educators/adults)

Energy Sources of the World  (educators, adults, intermediate and secondary)

• Organizing student tours of interesting engineering achievements in the community
• Sponsoring materials for a teacher workshop
• Judging local Future City™ competitions
• Offering art or essay contests for students on the importance of engineering
• Purchasing Oil and Natural Gas books and Energy4me Kits to donate to schools
• Holding “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” events
• Hosting “Engineer for a Day” programs in which high school students shadow engineers for one day
• Presenting annual engineering scholarships awards banquets
• Teaming with other organizations in your community for an expanded outreach

 
Need ideas to get started? Check out the Engineers Week website for tips to jumpstart your Engineers Week celebration with special programs like “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” and National Engineers Week Future City™ Competition.

Visit energy4me.org to learn more about engineering careers. 

Start a Local Energy4me Program!

Author: Darci Ramirez; Published: Jan 25, 2011; Category: Classroom materials, Classroom presentations, Education outreach, Energy Education, Energy sources, Engineering Careers, SPE members, Uncategorized, Volunteering; Tags: Careers, Children, Education, Energy, Energy4me, Engineering, Engineering Careers, School, SPE, Speaker, Student, Teacher, Volunteer; Comments: Be the first

If you’re an SPE member, starting an Energy4me program for your section could be a great way to connect with young people and get the word out about important energy topics. You may even inspire a talented future engineer!

Energy4me makes it easy. Start by gauging your section’s energy education interests. You can do this by conducting member interest surveys through your section newsletter or by brainstorming with section subcommittees. Are your section’s members more interested in working “behind the scenes” or interacting face to face with students? Would they rather have an energy program that is active throughout the year, or one that hosts one or two large annual events?

Once you’ve determined your section’s interests, you can put Energy4me’s resources to work. We offer tips on how to make fantastic classroom presentations, information on how to start a scholarship program, and free handouts that you can give to students (career brochures, bookmarks and more). You can even purchase Energy4me Kits, which are full of educational materials, for local teachers, and if you give a classroom presentation, we’ll donate a copy of our colorful “Oil and Natural Gas” book to the classroom in your name.

Energy4me makes it easy for SPE sections to make a difference in students’ lives! 

Energy4me’s educational materials are also available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Engineers Week is celebrating its 60th anniversary!

Author: Heather Stanford; Published: Jan 12, 2011; Category: Education outreach, Engineering Careers, Science, Technology, Uncategorized, Volunteering; Tags: Careers, Children, Classroom Instruction, Earth Science Week, Education, Energy, Engineering, Engineering Careers, Environment, eWeek, Teacher, Technology, Volunteer; Comments: Be the first

Engineers Week was founded in 1951 to raise global awareness of the positive contributions engineers make to society and raise awareness of engineering careers.  This professional society is made up of engineers, educators, cultural societies, corporations and government agencies that emphasizes the importance of learning science, math and technology to future generations through global activities during Engineers Week, which is the culmination of awareness programs that occur throughout the year.

This year Engineers Week will be held 20-26 February 2011. The National Engineers Week Foundation is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Engineers Week and recognizing engineers that volunteer in their community. Engineers Week has grown to become a global event that includes an engineering challenge event for students called Future City and special activities designed to make girls more aware of engineering and technology careers.

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a proud sponsor of Engineers Week and encourages members and teachers worldwide to emphasize the importance of a career in engineering. SPE sections plan local activities and outreach to schools. Energy4me will provide reports on SPE section activities and ideas for teachers. Check back for ideas and activities! SPE can provide engineers to serve as classroom speakers in areas where we have members, and educational materials that can be downloaded. 

Click here to learn more about Engineers Week or a career in engineering.