Energy monster workshops come to Bristow Elementary

BOWLING GREEN Ky. – Without electrical energy, daily life would be much harder. To teach young students how to better use and conserve energy, the Tennessee Valley Authority energy monster workshops stopped at Bristow elementary.

“Energy is something that we take for granted. You turn on a light and it works. But a lot goes into the creation and transportation of energy,” said Tennessee Valley Authority instructional design consultant Grant England.

The workshop included examples of what household appliances use the most and least amount of energy and what children can do to conserve energy in their daily lives. The workshop presentation was interactive, giving students a chance to really get involved.

“We’re really just trying to present it in different ways and meet a variety of different learning styles,” England said.

This was a light bulb moment for some of the students, who were learning for the first time that almost everything requires energy in some form.

“I learned that the AC uses the most energy, and that if you leave a fridge open, it’ll produce energy, and use more energy than it already does,” said third grader Evan Flore.

The main goal is to teach the students what they can do at home to get in the habit of conserving energy.

“I’m going to say turn down the thermostat because we always have it on like 77,”said third grader Brynn Pitchford.

Once the presentation was done, the kids wrote down what they’ll do to save energy.

“The whole idea of this workshop is that everything that we talk about in the workshop translates to home and is actionable. Everything that we cover are actions that children can take in their home to save energy,” England said.

The workshop was made possible through a partnership between the Tennessee Valley Authority and Warren RECC.