Watts Off Energy Challenge 2021!!

Over the past 5 week, all of our EOs have been busy conducting our Watts Off Energy Challenge for 2021 for 11 grade 6 classes from across the province! This is the third year of our challenge in partnership with Efficiency Nova Scotia where we get to challenge our students to take action into real life behaviour changes to reduce their energy usage, and learn more about saving energy! 

Each week our classes are tasked with watching a short video to explain the theme of the week, different activities to test their ability to learn about energy-saving habits in fun and creative ways, and sharing their progress with us through photos and social media. Our Themes have included: 

Week 1: Get Energized! This week was all about getting an understanding of what energy and energy efficiency are. The main activity for this week was to map out high-energy use areas of their schools.

Week 2: Lights out! The main purpose for this week is to understand that we can use natural light a lot of the time instead of electricity, at home and at school! The main activity for the students this week was to have a “lights out day” in their classroom to promote this idea even more! 

Week 3: Phantom Power! The students got to learn about what phantom power is and how it is all around us all the time. To understand this more, the students participated in a “phantom Friday” where they had to go around their classrooms and identify where there might be phantom power, and unplug these items! They also were able to get creative and make reminders to turn off devices and unplug them!

Week 4: Green Heroes! This week students were tasked with deepening their impact by sharing their knowledge of energy savings. To do this, students made posters to share information and actions they have learned about how to save energy and encourage others to do the same.

Week 5: Ecological Footprints: Students learned about what ecological footprints are and how we are able to reduce our footprints on our planet by changing our behaviour. The main activity for this week was to make an ecological footprint pledge by identifying things in their life they can do to reduce their footprint! 

Week 6: Power Down and Go Outside! This is the final week of the Watts Off Energy Challenge! This week is all about taking what the students have learned and powering down their devices and going outside! 

This challenge really lets us help students understand how to become more energy efficient at home and at school, by providing them with many new tools and behaviours that they can now share with others! We are getting very close to the end of our challenge for 2021, and we cannot wait to see the final tally of which class was able to gain the most points and become our winners!  Check out the scoreboard here!

To check out what our challengers have been up to, check out the hashtag #WattsOff2021 and our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

~ Holly Paish

Valley and South Shore Engagement Officer