Youth Energy and Environment Expo

ENERGY SCIENCE FAIR

On Friday, April 25th, this year’s North Country Sustainable Energy Fair will open with the annual Youth Energy and Environmental Expo (YEEE), a Science Fair in the SUNY Canton Campus Center gymnasium from 10 to 12. Students in grades 4 through 12 may work as individuals, with a partner, with friends or in a team or class. The winning projects in three age categories will be awarded cash prizes and will be displayed at the Energy Fair.

Suggested topics include renewable energy, energy conservation and efficiency, green building, biofuels, community education, recycling, climate change, peak oil and environmental impacts. Entries may include: models, demonstrations, experiments, analysis, posters, scrapbooks, photo displays or art, performance art, films and documented action or engineering projects. Displays should fit within a 4′ x 2.5′ area on table top or floor. Students must be at the Science Fair to present their project to the judges. Awards are announced at noon and pre-registration is required.

Last year over 200 students with 80 projects packed SUNY Canton Campus Center gym. A team of judges reviewed their projects to choose the winning entries in each age category. Projects ranging from the need to recycle to a home movie on peak oil to nuclear power illustrated the students’ concern about environment and their creative solutions for their own energy future.

A highlight of the event will be the keynote presentation for 7th through 12th graders by internationally-known author, Richard Heinberg. Heinberg has written the most widely read books on energy consumption and peak oil, The Party’s Over and PowerDown, as well as The Oil Depletion Protocol. Students in grades 4-6 will play a large-screen version of Energy Jeopardy with categories ranging from “Watt’s Up” to “Renewable Resources”.

Some field trip travel grants are available. See below for more detailed information on guidelines and suggested projects or email Susan Powers at sep@clarkson.edu. Coordinated by Clarkson University Office of Educational Partnerships and Community Energy Services (NYS Energy $mart Communities) and Project Green Teams.

YEEE INTENT TO ENTER FORM

Please complete the Intent to enter Form for individual and group entries and return by April 4th, 2008. Final (complete) information on projects is due by April 15th.

Return forms to:

Community Energy Services

YEEE

101 Main St

Canton, NY 13617

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR PROJECTS

Entrants are encouraged to identify, analyze, and work towards the solution of a particular energy or environmental problem. Entries can be in one of three categories: analysis, science or engineering/design. Create your own ideas or consider these suggestions:

ANALYSIS

• Lighting in your school - estimate how much electricity is used for lighting in your school and determine options and savings for solutions involving energy conservation and efficiency.
• Characteristics of energy efficient homes - Review electric and gas bills for 3-5 homes including your own. Determine which house consumes the least amount of energy. Survey occupants and inventory energy use/efficiency aspects of each home to analyze differences in energy consumption.
• Energy Efficiency - Complete an energy audit of your home and identify improvements you could make (audit kits available from Project Green Teams www.greenteams.org)
• Renewable energy sources - Evaluate the feasibility of using a renewable energy source for supplying some fraction of the heat or power consumed by your school or home
• Environmental impacts - Show the potential environmental benefits of an alternative energy source or energy efficiency measures in your home.
• Community education - Identify a need for increased education and prepare a video to communicate an energy efficiency or environmental message to the general public (other media also acceptable)
• Recycling - Collect and document by type all the non-recyclable packaging and bags your family uses in a month. Photograph the pile. Analyze ways you could begin to avoid generating so much waste.
• Composting - Begin composting in a container all the organic kitchen waste generated by your household. Research on the Internet how to compost with worms, order the materials and begin your own worm farm. See how much compost your worms generate.
• Green Energy - Analyze your home’s energy bills for the last six months. Call up National Grid and find out where your energy comes from. If your household had been using 100% Green Energy, how much CO2 would they have saved and where would their energy have come from. Call up National Grid and sign your home up for Green Energy.

ENGINEERING/DESIGN

• Building construction - Build two model houses, one passive solar with insulation and other energy conservation measures, one regular house without insulation and other energy conservation measures. Test the efficiency of the insulation in maintaining temperature within the structure and the south windows in heating up the space inside.
• Alternative energy sources - Build a model electric car or solar house and describe how the energy systems work.
• Build a solar oven and cook something in it.
• Efficiency- Show how much energy a conventional light bulb uses compared to a compact fluorescent and an LED. Now show how much CO2 you could save by using one over the other for x number of hours a day times one year.

SCIENCE

Develop a hypothesis about some aspect of energy or the environment and design an experiment to test and prove that hypothesis.

For additional ideas and information, see these resources:

• National Energy Education Development (NEED) http://www.need.org
• DOE http://www.eere.energy.gov/education/science_projects.html
• NYSERDA - Get Energy Smart http://www.getenergysmart.org/schools/teachers/curriculum.asp
• Energy Star http://www.energystar.gov/
• Energy Hog http://www.energyhog.org/

GUIDELINES

• Entries can include: models, demonstrations, posters, film, scrapbooks, photo displays, or representational or performance art.
• The display should fit within a 4-5 ft. x 2.5 ft area (table top or floor) and should clearly identify the title, participants and school or organization.
• The entry form must be completed and submitted by April 4th to CES, 101 Main St., Canton, NY 13617 by March 30, 2008. Call 315-379-9466 or email fair@ncenergy.org to request an entry form or for more information.
• All entries must be set up Friday morning before 10 am.
• Students entering the competition will be required to attend science fair from 10 am-12 noon to present their project to the judges.
• There is no entry fee to participate.

PROJECT JUDGING CRITERIA

1. Project statement
   • Identify specific problem/project you are addressing
   • Identify specific goals for your solution
2. Selection and completion of activities used to reach your goals
   • Describe methods / steps used to complete project are described
   • Appropriate use of methods
3. Energy content / understanding used to complete the project
   • Evidence that grade-level appropriate understanding of energy concepts used
4. Evaluation of project solution - did you reach your goals?
   • Description of how students evaluated if their goals were met
   • Extent to which students reached their goals
5. Student leadership
   • Evidence that the students completed the project themselves
6. Documentation
   • Quality of materials displayed at competition
7. Communication of work with judges
   • Clear explanation of work completed
   • Effective answers to questions

For more information or help with identifying a project, mentor or materials,
contact Community Energy Services, Inc greenteams@ncenergy.org; 379-9466, or Susan Powers sep@clarkson.edu

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