Planting seeds is great. I was going to suggest talking about growing your own food. You can have the soil all ready in the pots and they just have to insert the seed. Or you can have kits in paper bags show them how to plant the seeds and they can take the kit home to plant themselves if they want too. Getting the soil on the pots tends to be the messiest part. You can use sticks to push the sees in the dirt so the kids don't get their hands to dirty.
since the majority of energy our houses use is used to cool/ heat the house, i think it's important to stress that the less dependent we are on our ACs, the better. i really like mr electricity, i think he simplifies things
also, if you're going to talk about water conservation, you should teach the class about military showers. and it's definitely not true that taking showers always saves more water than taking a bath. i'm sure filling the tub up halfway uses less water than taking a 25 minute shower and not turning the water off at all. i think it's a good idea for people to plug up their drain when they take showers so they can see exactly how much water they're using, and adjust their habits if they're not happy with the amount of water they're using.
and instead of letting the cold water run down the drain at the start of a shower, i like to let it fill in a bucket i keep in the bathroom and then use that water to refill the toilet tank after flushing.
I don't think people really have AC here (it doesn't really get hot), but it's good to mention just in case (I'm not from here so I don't know). Thanks for the Mr Electricity suggestion, looks like a good resource!
And, kids that age are often more attentive when they get to do the talking themselves, so maybe you could get them to discuss what "green stuff" they already do themselves, and have them suggest new things to try - make them teach each other.
Making jewellery from "trash" might interest them - this might require various tools, though. Or you could have them make instrument - bottle cap rattles, for instance. An hour might not be enough in this case, though.
Throughout my entire time at school there was nothing I liked less than students in control of a class. It's a good idea to ask students to share what they do or have heard they should do to live greenly, but their only job is to learn from someone qualified to teach.
Of course, I'm hardly suggesting that the students should left without somebody - in this case the OP - guiding the discussion and making sure it is kept on track. I enjoyed such discussions immensely myself at school (even though I was too shy to participate), and if anything, it taught me that anybody is "qualified" to teach.
Yes, it's a bit of hard balance to find, I expect. The coordinator really wants the workshop to be interactive, but I hope I'll have enough authority! I'm nervous...!
That's a good idea! I'm not sure if it would be possible to organize since I won't see the students before the workshop, but I'll run it by the coordinator I think. Thanks!
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http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cooling.html
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and instead of letting the cold water run down the drain at the start of a shower, i like to let it fill in a bucket i keep in the bathroom and then use that water to refill the toilet tank after flushing.
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And, kids that age are often more attentive when they get to do the talking themselves, so maybe you could get them to discuss what "green stuff" they already do themselves, and have them suggest new things to try - make them teach each other.
Making jewellery from "trash" might interest them - this might require various tools, though. Or you could have them make instrument - bottle cap rattles, for instance. An hour might not be enough in this case, though.
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