1. Upcoming Workshops

Pembina worked closely with teachers and school board curriculum consultants on the design and implementation of eCards and EnerAction. This ensures our resources meet the needs and realities of classroom teachers. Now that eCards and EnerAction are fully teacher-tested and ready to use in the classroom, we will continue to work with school boards/districts to help teachers use these great resources.

Plans are already underway to provide teacher workshops on the new GreenLearning resources — eCards and EnerAction in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. Join us at any of the upcoming events:

• Ontario Geography and Environmental Education conference
  October 26 & 27
• Educational Computing Organization of Ontario conference
  November 8
• Alberta Teachers’ Association Science Conference
  November 16 to 18 in Edmonton
• Science Teachers of Ontario Association conference
  November 16 to 18 in Toronto
• Workshops will be offered to the following Ontario district school boards
  dates to be confirmed — Halton Catholic & Public, London Catholic, Peel, Thames Valley, Toronto Catholic & Public, Upper Canada
• Vancouver Teacher Workshop
  September 13, 12:30 to 4:00
• BC Social Studies Teachers Conference
  October 19

To register for BC workshops contact — Johan Stroman: johans(at)pembina.org or 604-886-7456.

To register for ON workshops contact — Gordon Harrison: gordonh(at)pembina.org or 613-256-1487.

2. eCards is Coming this Fall

The beta testing was completed in June, 2007 and eCards is now in the final testing stages!

Teachers find eCards is unique, students find it engaging and it accommodates a variety of learning styles so all students have success. An eCard is an electronic greeting card that students design to communicate their research and opinions on wind energy, fossil fuels, solar energy or biofuels. Students explore answers to questions on our current and future energy use, create artwork for their card and send it to family, friends and leaders to help shape our energy future. 'Ask an Expert' is an interactive tool to aid students in their research.

eCards is a student-led, teacher-moderated learning resource that is cross-curricular in covering geography (grade 7 Ontario), science/social studies (grades 5 to 9), language arts and art (grades 5 to 9).

The student assessment matrix was very useful and it helped teachers meet curriculum requirements. Also coming soon are assessments exemplars developed with the Toronto District School Board.

eCards is an approved Green Street program. More on eCards...

3. EnerAction: Learn, Analyze, Take Action, Get Results

Students take action on energy conservation! Designed with the teacher in mind, EnerAction learning activities are integrated with grade 4 to 7 core curriculum. EnerAction was fully tested in the spring of 2007 and will be ready for launch this fall.

Students examine energy use in their lives and use the online lighting calculator to analyze how the type of lighting, number of lights and hours of use all have an impact on energy consumption, utility costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Students can then measure the lighting use in their school, take action to turn off lights and measure their real-life results!

Build this into your classroom planning for this year. Watch for the reminder at the end of September to use this new resource.

More on EnerAction...

4. Solar Oven Challenge

The Solar Oven Challenge is being offered again this year. Engage your students in building, testing and baking in a solar oven. The solar oven and recipes can then be showcased on Re-energy.ca — our renewable energy web site.

We are only accepting 40 registrants so register now for the Solar Oven Challenge, a Green Street approved program and build a solar oven that really cooks!

Student comments from last year's Solar Oven Challenge:

• "We made smores and got to go on top of the roof of our school. Now that was fun!"
• "We cooked for our whole class on Earth Day. Everybody loved it...it was so much fun. We plan to do a lot more cooking with our ovens over the summer."
• "We learned how hot aluminum foil and cardboard could get when put in the right configurations and how quickly they heat up."

More on the Solar Oven Challenge.

Register for the challenge at Green Street.

5. Green Planet Concert Series: Art Garfunkel

Join the Pembina Institute at our upcoming Green Planet Concert Series featuring the legendary Art Garfunkel, and enjoy a great evening of entertainment.

» Edmonton: September 16 Northern Jubilee Auditorium
» Calgary: September 18 Southern Jubilee Auditorium (sponsored by ConocoPhillips) » More about the Green Planet Concert Series!

Questions: Contact Sandra Gomez at sandrag(at)pembina.org or 403-269-3344 x 124