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Laboratoire virtuel pour éduquer à l'énergie durab..
Laboratoire virtuel pour éduquer à l'énergie durable
In the face of the great challenge of sustainable energy production, it is essential foreveryone to mobilise in order to change consumer behaviour and invest in energyefficienttechnologies. Education has an essential role to play in meeting this challenge,because it can bring about far-reaching changes in the behaviour of the public at large,from an early age, and throughout life.Following on from the “Clim@TIC” project, which is still underway within the SocratesMinerva programme, we have decided to continue our efforts to foster sustainabledevelopment through a new project. This time we have focused on energy, as theissues of climate change and energy efficiency are inextricably linked.The “ENERG@ITC” project will provide pupils and teachers in both primary andsecondary schools with a virtual laboratory in which to perform various types of activity:- Making “energy ratings” in schools, helped by experts identified in the variousparticipating countries. Pupils will analyse energy consumption in their school, seekresponses and find solutions to reduce energy consumption. Pupils will also take part insurveys on energy consumption at home, in their family or in their town.- Guided research activities in an area of the laboratory involving “animations” (to have agreater understanding of the issue) and “simulations” (to act in a virtual environment andexperiment with solutions that would be difficult to find in real life). Teachers will alsoorganise guided tours of power stations and factories that use different energy sources.- Real experiments: laboratory courses, energy efficiency measures in schools, simpleinstallations of renewable energy systems (photovoltaic systems, mini-wind farms,producing electrical energy and heat from biomass), followed by energy consumption.To conduct these experiments, schools will have a scientific and technical kit with thenecessary material.- Public actions at school and at home: pupils will be encouraged to propose strategiesto resolve society’s energy problems. They will take part in various awareness-raisingactivities such as designing and implementing an energy game, a humorous drawingcompetition (waste, price, ecology), a non-polluting mini-mobile device competition, ameeting of alternative-energy vehicles, and so on.From the outset of the project, teachers will have access to adapted training coveringthe scientific, technical and teaching aspects of energy education. This training will beorganised by experts who will provide continuing support throughout the project.The ITC will play a fundamental role in the entire project. They are an indispensablemeeting place for the many people and countries involved in the project. They are also amarvellous tool for acquiring and building knowledge, which teachers and students willlearn to use as they work through the activities on offer.