Taking the Renew Our Schools Challenge at Home: Understanding Home Energy Use

Know, Wonder, Learned – Mini-Challenge

The Renew Our Schools challenge is not just restricted to the classroom or school building. Students can choose to explore how energy is used at home. The Know, Wonder, Learned (K-W-L) Mini-Challenge is offered during week three of the six-week course.

Students investigate energy use at home by researching and talking to their families to determine what they already know and want to learn more about. Some areas to dive into deeper include:

• How much energy does the average household use per month?
• Do certain parts of the United States consume more energy than others?
• What long-term effects do fossil fuels have on our health and environment?

Students are motivated to generate even more questions to help further their understanding. These reflections are summarized in a three-column table broken out by what they Know, Want to Know, and Learned.

Classrooms competing in the K-W-L Challenge are awarded $100 to spend as they wish!

Discover other ways schools are earning points in Renew Our Schools by following along on the Focus on Energy and KEEP Facebook pages:

• www.facebook.com/focusonenergy
• www.facebook.com/wiskeep

If your school is interested in participating in a future challenge, visit focusonenergy.com/renewourschools and fill out an interest form. Applications are being accepted for the Fall competition scheduled for October 12 to November 10, 2023.