4E Program
Energy Efficiency Reduces Energy Demand
Junior Energy Specialists Learn How to Reduce Energy Wastage
Nature's Ride programs are currently on-line.
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Nature’s Ride in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Development (SEDV) Master of Science Program, located at the University of Calgary, educates school children and youth to reduce energy wastage through its innovative 4E (Environment and Energy Efficiency Education) Program. The Program’s major sponsor is Energy Efficiency Alberta.
The 4E Program engages the elementary/junior high school community (grades four to nine) in Calgary, Alberta. It builds the awareness, skills, and capacity of students and teachers to take action on energy efficiency and renewable energy by leveraging knowledge and expertise from the SEDV Program. Through the activities contained in the 4E Program (two components), students learn the effects of greenhouse gases (GHG) and how to reduce them in a measurable way. -
Environment and Energy Residency Program (E2RP)
E2RP provides elementary and junior high schools with an Environment and Energy Expert (Resident). The Residents are present at the targeted schools one day a week for three months. They will engage directly with the students and teachers on environmental and energy matters. In addition, Residents will support the schools’ own environmental and energy initiatives.
The Residents are current students, recent graduates or alumni of the SEDV Master of Science Program, which is grounded in courses in engineering, law, business, environmental design and related work experience. The Program annually produces approximately 20 to 30 research projects related to energy and the environment.E2RP Benefits
- Increases capacity of teachers to teach environmental and energy efficiency topics through customized teaching plans, and assists schools to practice energy efficiency themselves.
- Provides a resource person to aid elementary/junior high students and teachers to investigate topics of their choice pertaining to the environment and energy efficiency.
- Assists in Call to Action programs in which students want to engage.
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Section 1
Junior Energy Inspector(JEI)
~ 4 x 1 Hour Delivery
Students:
• Conduct home energy audits.
• Identify different forms of energies consumed in residential homes.
• Devise actions to reduce their own impact and become “lesser impact humans”.
• Calculate energy usage and GHG emissions.
Section 2
Junior Energy Prosumer (JEP)
~ 4 x 1 Hour Delivery
Students:
• Learn to be a prosumer (consumer and producer).
• Learn to describe the concept of clean closed loop systems using a biodigester demonstration model.
• Design a sustainable food supply system.
• Calculate ecological footprints.
The 4E Program provides experiential learning in the JEI and JEP sections where students use their home and school as a “learning laboratory”. Once provided with a foundation of concepts and principles, students become the decision makers, applying what they learn in their own homes. A competitive platform (Call to Action) is then provided, which motivates the students to act immediately.
The impact of the 4E Program is wide spread as it facilitates the transfer of knowledge from the University of Calgary, crosses into homes, and provides professional development for elementary/junior high school teachers. Nature's Ride works with the target teachers and schools to establish a sustainable mindset that will continue within the elementary/junior high school community at the conclusion of the 4E Program.