Energy & Society Kit

Energy & Society Kit

Energy & Society Kit (Printed Guide)   $14.99 Add to cart

Every day we are faced with any number of choices about energy use. Most of these affect us individually, but they also affect society in general. Incorporating energy education into elementary and middle school curricula provides students with the opportunity to learn about energy sources and uses. It also helps students understand how individual and collective choices about energy use affect their lives and the whole planet.

Project Learning Tree’s Energy & Society Kit provides formal and nonformal educators with tools and activities to help students in grades 4–8 learn about their relationship with energy and investigate the environmental issues related to energy’s role in society.


Energy & Society Kit offers students’ opportunities to learn about their relationship with energy and helps develop their critical thinking skills to make decisions about their personal energy use. In addition to hands-on activities, this curriculum integrates music and dance to enhance the study of energy issues.


Printed in 2010, this kit is on closeout. Price includes shipping and handling.

What’s Included:


Kit Contents


The kit contains an activity guide, an award-winning Energy & Me CD and dance DVD, and two sets of posters. The materials feature:

  • 6 hands-on, multi-disciplinary lessons
  • Background information for educators
  • Correlations to national standards in science, social studies, and English language arts
  • Student energy primer
  • Multiple copies of two different classroom energy posters; Where is the Energy? and What Powers the Move?
  • Ideas for action projects and science fairs

The Energy & Me CD was selected as a Parents’ Choice Recommended Award Winner and a Children’s Music Web Award Winner.

Student Lessons

Student Energy Primer

The student energy primer provides more information about specific energy resources, such as fossil fuels, nuclear, biomass, hydropower, solar, and more. It is designed so you can duplicate it for use with your students.

Activity 1: Energy Detectives

Students explore the Where is the energy? poster and then search their classroom for energy connections. They record the ways they use energy throughout a typical day in an energy detective journal.

Activity 2: May the Source Be with You

Using the Where is the energy? poster, students identify various renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. They research one energy resource, and create a poster that describes that resource in detail.

Activity 3: Energy Chains

Students will identify the different forms of energy and construct an “energy chain” showing how different energy forms change.

Activity 4: What Powers the Move?

Students will examine transportation systems vital to their community. They will use the What powers the move? poster to identify transportation methods and design a future transportation system for their community.

Activity 5: In the Driver’s Seat

In this activity, students learn about gasoline, then explore fuel conservation and energy efficiency by simulating the distance they can travel on a set amount of gasoline using different vehicles.

Activity 6: Energy Challenge Game

Students will review energy concepts and information through the use of a game similar to Jeopardy!®

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