The NEED Project: Energy Education Resources
The NEED Project began in the 1970s as a one-day celebration of energy education: National Energy Education Day. Growing from a one day celebration with a few NEED activities -- like the ever-popular and newly-updated Energy Carnival -- NEED designs and delivers annually updated curriculum and support for virtually any classroom and at any grade level – from kindergarten to high school and beyond – from science and pre-engineering labs to language arts and afterschool clubs.
NEED Curriculum: Students use hands-on, inquiry based lessons to explore the physics and chemistry of energy. They engineer turbines and generators, testing their models for maximum electricity output. Students write and perform plays about energy in drama class, calculate payback periods of energy efficient appliances in math class, and discuss the history and human impact of energy use in social studies.
Educators report that the curriculum is appropriate for individual grade levels and that the training provided allows them to return to their classrooms and use the materials immediately. Fully 100% of teachers attending NEED workshops say they would recommend the workshop to their peers and that they will use the materials in their classrooms.
Teacher Professional Development: Working with education and energy advisors, NEED designs and delivers professional development opportunities for teachers that not only educate, but also energize and remind teachers of the fun that is possible in the classroom. Whether attending a one-day workshop or the five-day National Energy Conference for Educators, teachers interact and share ideas with their peers. Speakers from local and national energy organizations share information about careers in the energy industry and the exciting energy technologies currently in development.
Membership Benefits: Educators are NEED members in order to receive updated curriculum materials, participate in workshops and inservices, and to connect to the NEED network. Membership is $35.00. In many states and localities, membership is sponsored for interested teachers by federal or state energy agencies and other NEED corporate sponsors. Any educator can become a NEED Member and join a network of schools across the nation participating in innovative energy education programs.
Membership includes a NEED Membership/Curriculum Packet, a subscription to Energy Exchange newsletter, access to NEED conferences, workshops and the Youth Awards Program, and the opportunity to design a classroom program by ordering basic curriculum units and free supplemental materials using the NEED Catalog included in the Membership and Curriculum Packet.