Teacher takes energy to a new level

Marsha Tyson knows about energy—how to conserve it, measure it and evaluate it. And she challenges her students, with the help of Columbia Water and Light and Boone Electric, to know the same. As one of Oakland Junior High’s most celebrated teachers, Tyson employs whatever strategies necessary to motivate her students.

Tyson’s course, Principles of Chemistry and Physics, is an innovative approach to ninth-grade education. Using community businesses and parents to educate her students is not a new concept for Tyson. Upon completing her National Board Certification two years ago, it was one of the required elements of her success. In light of that achievement, she has been nominated for Teacher of the Year several times in her seven-year tenure. With the inspiration of Pam Didur, one of the teachers who helped develop the program, the Energy Challenge has become one of the strongest components of a well-developed physics curriculum that goes above and beyond classroom lectures.

Once the physics unit begins, there are three beginning pieces—nuclear power, electrical power and mechanical energy. The students discuss nuclear power first. Then, when the unit on electrical power begins, the Energy Challenge takes center stage. Next, the students study mechanical power. At this time, students build Rube Goldberg machines—complex machines that perform simple tasks. That unit follows the Energy Challenge. This type of science application is what Tyson is about.

“I think hands-on is the best way to teach kids,” she says. “We’ve set a foundation to integrate that philosophy, and it’s no longer work for the kids. They have fun, and don’t even realize they’re learning.”

Thus, the Energy Challenge focuses on much more than paper and pen. In a combined effort, Tyson, Jay Hasheider, education director at Columbia Water and Light, and a representative from Boone Electric guide students through steps that involve their parents, their utility bills and a procedure for analyzing the data.

The first step is to prepare students for the Energy Challenge. Tyson introduces the project four weeks before Columbia Water and Light and Boone Electric come into the classroom to facilitate the process. The science teacher talks about objects of energy, work and power, and then gives students a permission slip that requires they obtain necessary information from home. A PowerPoint presentation focuses on the three main reasons to conserve energy—economy, environment and finite supplies of resources.

The next step involves parents. Students, with the help of family members, obtain pertinent utility information. The goal is to collect one year’s worth of electric and natural gas usage. This personalizes the program and allows students to cross-reference actual utility usage with questions in a booklet they study. All information is kept confidential, but if parents balk at sharing personal home information, students can use fictional data.

All of this occurs before the physics portion of the course is ever launched so students are prepared for the Energy Challenge. Once the permission slips are returned and every student has necessary information to analyze his or her home usage, the program can officially begin.

Boone Electric and Columbia Water and Light then come in to kick off the Energy Challenge. They participate in classroom activities on two different days, but day one involves an air-filter demonstration.

“We use an infra-red camera to demonstrate how heat conducts through different insulation materials,” Hasheider explains. “Then we engage the students in a hands-on demonstration of how a simple forced-air furnace works using a simulated model. Kids will know how a furnace works, how much is spent for heating, cooling, hot water and individual appliances. They also see how important it is to change the air filter.”

After the demonstration, kids take the booklet home to answer questions about insulation, their home furnaces and hot-water temperatures. Through these 50 questions, each student learns about his or her home’s square footage, its foundation, and details about family members’ usage. It lays the groundwork to keep the Energy Challenge applicable to them personally.

“I like this stage of the Energy Challenge,” Tyson says. “My classes spend time in the computer lab entering their data once they’ve completed the survey, and it’s a process that means so much more because it’s about them. It’s not some generic lesson that regurgitates information that has no meaning. These are their homes, their appliances and their utility bills. I wish all my lessons could be so personalized.”

The next day, employees of Columbia Water and Light and Boone Electric return to analyze each student’s data.

“This is where the kids get to see where money is being spent on lost heat, appliances, and things that get left plugged in that suck a lot of energy,” Hasheider says. “They may see that they need weather sealing or new windows. This is the part that really impacts them and their parents.”

Perhaps the most powerful element of the project is the game Hasheider plays with the kids. Every student is given paper money. If they answer questions incorrectly, they pay an amount. If they answer the questions correctly, they still pay, but they pay less. At first, kids are outraged, believing if they get questions right, they shouldn’t have to pay. But this is a powerful lesson—utilities must be paid. But the message comes across loud and clear: smart consumers save money.

The final component of the Energy Challenge is the evaluation of students’ homes. Every student has a recommendation form with 10 simple tasks his or her family can do to conserve energy. It is specific to his or her home, so parents benefit directly from this program.

“This is the meat of the program,” Tyson explains. “Kids take a form home that gives their parents answers. So often parents don’t get to see lessons come full circle. With the Energy Challenge, they are part of the process and get to see the end result. Some families realize how poorly insulated their homes are. I did! They took a picture of my house with an infra-red camera, and I learned how much heat I’m losing out my windows. I found out that mini-blinds aren’t enough. I need insulated drapes or plastic if I want to reduce my bill. Or new windows.”

The Energy Challenge is a win-win project. Utility companies educate future home owners about energy conservation. Parents reap the greatest benefit. They find out how energy efficient their home is and what to do to fix any problems. The list they receive has simple suggestions that can help save money immediately and more long-term remedies, such as new windows, that will truly affect heating and cooling bills.

Tyson believes the project is one of many great educational programs in which she participates, and one of only a few that directly affect parents and the community.
“When kids finish this unit and receive their pen that says, ‘I took the Energy Challenge,’ it isn’t just about educating them. We’ve developed a partnership that teaches parents not only what their kids are learning in school but also how much a good education impacts lives. There’s
not a better feeling in the world than being a part of that!”

by Barri Bumgarner
Columbia MNEA