Sprout Educational Program (Video)

Kid Wind Challenge (Video)

Kid Wind Education Company (Video)

Educators strive to bring experiential learning for future life skills into the classroom. Less time sitting at a desk and more time with stimulating hands-on experimentation. New curricula and learning standards are incorporation new disciplines in math, physics, and social sciences of wind power. Kid Wind, a St. Paul based education company, manufactures wind turbine models for classroom learning and teacher lesson plans for in depth study.The University of Minnesota is launching a new curriculum of study focusing on wind turbine implementation and installation for future sites across the nation.

Top 5 Green Business Schools in the US

Here are the top five business schools for those seeking to maximize the likelihood of securing an environmentally oriented job. This list was compiled by by US Green Technology and they are presented in ascending order by the cost of tuition cost.

Portland State University School of Business Administration

The MBA program at this school allows students to specialize in areas such as social responsibility, metrics for sustainable enterprise, and product design and stewardship. The school has its own Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability, which is home to an annual sustainability conference.

The Green Leadership of Lawthorn Primary School in Scotland

Scottish school, Lawthorn Primary has reduced its footprint and they are teaching other schools to do the same. Schools across Scotland have access to the school's global footprint resource. Every aspect of the school’s consumption has been examined from the kitchen to the bathroom. They monitor their activities and set goals.

The school has already managed to reduce energy usage by almost half (43 percent). They are saving water, and reusing plastic bottles, (eg to make a greenhouse), even the number of cars coming to the school has been reduced by sixty percent. The academic curriculums of the students are also benefiting as these projects are being put to use to encourage learning, from social studies to mathematics.

Renewable Energy Teaching Tools: Sprout and KidWind

We need to acquaint the workforce of tomorrow with Renewable sources of energy. Renewables are a crucial part of our future but we will need to educate a vast supply of human resources to research, build and install the necessary facilities and infrastructure. As reviewed in a Renewable Energy World (REW) article, there are a couple of new tools that will help to develop the skilled workforce of tomorrow.

A new teaching tool called Sprout is just the kind of tool needed to get people interested in renewable energy. Sprout is outfitted with solar panels, a wind turbine and a weather station. Sprout calculates and combines data for wind speed/direction, solar elevation/irradiance, voltage, watts/m2 available and other statistics. Sprout also offers integrated lesson plans for all levels that allow students to use renewables in math, science and more. Sprout is located in North Carolina.

Distance Education at the Centre for Environment, University of Toronto - Fall 2012 Semester

The fall semester of the UofT's Distance Education at the Centre for Environment begins on Monday September 24 and ends on Sunday Dec 16, 2012. These online courses address the challenge of sustainability as a global opportunity for collaboration across disciplines, between academics, governments and business leaders.

GSA Programs Provide Tools to Students to Save Their Future

Driven by the concepts that individuals can make a difference and that schools can change the world, GSA has provided frameworks and ongoing support through its interactive website and social media sites. These help schools and school districts drive their sustainability initiatives forward. As one person put it, “Your movement is helping not only to change the culture of our schools for the better but the culture of the Department of Education.”

GSA is actively collaborating with State Departments of Education across the U.S. and has found a steadfast partner in John Shea, chief executive officer, Division of School Facilities, NYC Department of Education.

Student Climate & Conservation Corps

In partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) premier training facility, the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), GSA launched the Student Climate & Conservation Congress (Sc3) in 2009. Sc3 is GSA’s student arm and is open to 9th- through 12th-grade students who have demonstrated a commitment to environmental action. Selected Sc3 members, who are nominated by their schools, attend a five-day summer Congress held at NCTC in Shepherdstown, West Va. They enjoy a full program of study focused on the natural environment and 21st Century sustainability solutions.

Building Support for Action on Climate Change Before We Reach Tipping Points

We need to take aim at those who are environmentally indifferent and hit them with an effective call to action. If climate advocacy is to succeed, we must do more than regurgitate the same tired rhetoric, we must work on a targeted message that encourages action. While a growing number of people accept the facts about our environment, inaction threatens the survival of our species. Time is running out, and unless we can find a way to get through to those who refuse to act, we will not make the needed changes in the time we have available.

It is easy to understand why many laugh at the Luddites who ignore climate change. However, this group is no laughing matter; they are in fact a serious threat to planetary health. Deniers are in the way of efforts to enact progressive national and state policies on energy and the environment.