Renewable Energy for Kids: Teaching Children About Renewable Energy

Many parents want to teach their family about renewable energy and energy efficiency ahead of schedule in life because once they get in the habit of it, it will be a habit they continue to follow for the rest of their life. But where should you start when teaching renewable energy for kids?

A excellent start would be defining exactly what renewable energy is. You can suggest they make a list of non-renewable and renewable power sources and build from there. Some examples would be:

Non-Renewable: Oil/Gas, Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear

Renewable: Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Hydro/Water

Clarify to them how renewable energy comes from natural forces. It is different from fossil fuels as it does not make greenhouse gases or other pollutants.

You can further clarify how the mass manufacture of electricity using renewable energy sources has only recently become more well loved. Some of the reasons why it’s becoming more well loved include: climate change caused by pollution and fossil fuels are all being used up and becoming more expensive.

A fantastic thought is to teach kids about energy efficiency. Have them make a list of all the powered devices they use for a day such as TV, computer, lights, etc. and for how long, and if possible the wattage of each device. If they can’t get the wattage, you can look up the average wattage for each device for demostration purposes. Do a rough calcuation to show them how much power they’re using in a day.

Now have them do an ‘energy conservation’ day where they turn off devices when they’re not using them, turn off lights when not in a room, turn down the heat/AC a couple degrees, etc. Now recalculate the daily wattage and show them how much energy they saved with a few simple changes.

Another fantastic thought is show them how installing a solar panel or windmill can generate electricy for their own home. It’s not as expensive as you might reckon. You don’t need an expensive commerical system. You can build your own for $100-200 dollars and your kids could even help if they’re ancient enough. The less they take energy for granted, the surpass.

These lessons will stick with them (especially at such an impressionable age) and they’ll be using these practices for the rest of their life. Teach renewable energy for kids, the sooner the surpass!