Enmax Gen E

Be sure to come and visit the GEN E booth at various Teacher’s Conevntions accross Alberta over the next month to hear about all of the exciting updates we have coming your way this spring and fall! We look forward to seeing you there.

GEN E representatives will be visiting the following conventions:

Central Alberta Teachers’ Convention
Red Deer, AB
February 9-10, 2012

Calgary City Teachers’ Convention
Calgary, AB
February 16-17, 2012

Palliser District Teachers’ Convention
Calgary, AB
February 23-24, 2012

Southwestern Alberta Teachers’ Convention
Lethbridge, AB
February 23-24, 2012

Greater Edmonton Teachers’ Convention
Edmonton, AB
March 1-2, 2012

Three new classroom resources have been added to the teaching tools section (search: wind or solar under Div 3). The lessons are based on the three videos on the Gen E site about solar photovoltaic, solar domestic hot water, and wind turbines. The lessons contain a brief overview of the video as well as two versions of worsksheets (elementary and jr high) and answer keys for the classroom.

Stay tuned for more resources being developed over the next few weeks.

I hope you all had restful yet exciting summers. We look forward to working with all of you this school year to engage more students in learning about alternative energy technologies!

We have lots of exciting things planned for this year. We are currently finalizing two more solar installs as part of the Gen program. Watch the Gen E site for more news as these get completed and as we launch the application for the next round of technologies. We are also creating more resources to assist teachers in bringing the concepts into the classroom. 

Lastly, mark your calendars for the next Gen E workshop, which will be held November 3rd at the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo. Details are being finalized and will be posted when available.

E-mail gen-e@enmax.com anytime with questions, comments, or stories about what your school is up to.

Thanks to the hard work of all the teachers at Olympic Heights School, there are 12 new lessons available for use by all Gen E teachers. The lessons range from Kindergarten to Grade 6 and cover a multitude of subjects from Science to French. Have a look at these wonderful lessons provided by your colleagues.

If you have developed any of your own lessons on renewable energy or energy conservation, send them to gen-e@enmax.com and we will upload them to share with all the Gen E teachers!

As part of the Gen E program, two new solar photovoltaic installations have been completed at Our Lady of Peace and St. Brigid Schools. Both schools are planning solar celebrations that will involve the entire school. We will update with photos and stories when available!

The generation data will soon be available to all schools. We will keep you updated!

Since the workshop, have you had the opportunity to download any of the Gen E resources? Have you tried any of the activities with your students? Have you found other renewable energy resources that were helpful in the classroom? Share your stories here with other teachers for a chance to win an iPod Shuffle.

Three winners will be randomly selected from posts from October 5 until the end of the year!

Based on teacher feedback, we have made the generation data available on the public side of the website. It can be viewed by selecting the Live Generation Data tab when you go to enmax.com/gen-e. Students, parents, and other community members can now view the energy being generated at all of the Gen E solar and wind schools.

Thank you to all the teachers that attended the Gen E Workshop on October 5th. I hope each of you walked away with new understanding about alternative energy technologies and the Gen E program. Next week we will be posting the presentations that took place during the event. We welcome any comments on the workshop!

Upcoming Workshop: October 5th

In order to strengthen the capacity of those teachers already involved in the pilot as well as to educate and inspire new teachers and schools to become involved, ENMAX is hosting a one day professional development opportunity on October 5, 2010. There are limited spaces for the event so register now!

Teachers attending this exciting event will be expected to explore the rich repository of lessons/resources available on the Gen E website to support their teaching and be prepared to share their views about classroom applications of this material with other teachers and the Gen E development team.

Register Here

I have heard that many of you are having difficulty finding ways to utilize the information gathered from the weather stations in the classroom. I have been in contact with an education group in BC, Knowledge Quest Associates, who have developed a number of resource books for teachers regarding weather you can view at Discovery Science Learning.

These resources were developed by Canadian teachers and experts in the field of meteorology. They are offering Gen E teachers a 10% discount off of the two main weather books and for a limited time there is no GST. To order, visit the Gen E order page.