The end of the school year is nearly here! Classrooms are filled with excitement as students (and teachers!) look forward to the sunny summer months. Harness that energy by engaging your students in some easy activities that are fun and practical.  

Here are two activities that integrate energy efficiency learning into your end-of-school-year classroom plan.

ACTIVITY 1: CLASSROOM AUDIT 

Wrap up the school year with a classroom audit activity by encouraging your students to record their energy usage at school. They can note things like whether they remembered to turn off the lights or if they unplugged electronics after they were finished being used, and what temperature the classroom thermostat is set to.  

If you need a few ideas to get started, or if you have younger students, you can use our Classroom Checklist (also available in a larger size!) 

Tip: You can leave the audit open-ended. Allow your students to walk around, observe their environment, and add their own ideas to the list of what should be audited in the classroom — they’ll likely come up with some clever ideas you may have missed! 

ACTIVITY 2: END-OF-YEAR REFLECTIONS

Now is the perfect time for your students to reflect on their personal energy-saving habits and set goals for the summer and the next school year. This is a great way to help your students build more self-awareness, take accountability, and feel empowered to create positive habits.  

You can ask them to reflect on questions like: 

1. What are three ways you save energy at home? 
2. Why do you think it’s important to save energy? 
3. Can you think of a time when you noticed a lot of energy being wasted? What could have been done differently? 
4. How does saving energy at home benefit you and your family? 
5. What’s one thing you could do to save energy that you haven’t tried before? 
6. How can you help others in your family be more aware of the energy they use? 
7. Do you think your school is energy efficient? Why or why not? 
8. What role do you think technology plays in saving energy? Can you give an example? 
9. If you had the power to change one thing in your community to save more energy, what would it be? 
10. How do you feel when you do something that saves energy? 

Then, have your students complete our My Pledge to the Planet activity. Using one or a few of the goals they’ve set for themselves, they can make a commitment to stick to an energy-efficient habit. You can also assign a time period, like over the summer, so your students have a goal date to work toward. 

You can print out physical certificates or save some trees by visiting our website and filling out a virtual pledge.  

SEE YOU NEXT SCHOOL YEAR!

Today’s students are incredibly environmentally conscious, and we hope our tools, developed with teachers in mind, have helped you make an impact in your classroom.  

We hope to see you back here next year so you can continue to help students understand their energy use and have a positive impact on our world.