Science Alive

K-12 Teacher Professional Development and Curriculum

Proudly sponsored by NV Energy and Southwest Gas, EnergySmart Education hosts numerous outreach programs to K-12 schools throughout Nevada to teach and promote energy consumption awareness and energy conservation.

Curriculum and Resources

The Green Box program offers several energy efficiency and conservation focused curriculum boxes for use by Nevada educators. Available for a range of grades, each box helps students uncover how humans produce energy and learn strategies to reduce energy and water consumption in their daily lives. Interested in using an EnergySmart green box in your classroom? Visit our Green Box page.

The contents of a Science Alive Green Box

Each Green Box is a self-contained teaching kit that provides educators with a unit of lesson plans along with all of the necessary supplies.

Participating Schools and Organizations

Over half of the participating schools are designated as Title I, in which more than 50% of the campus student population is eligible for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) program, a reliable indicator of poverty. Additionally, among the schools served in the current year by the EnergySmart program, 10 percent of the student population at the schools served are designated as Limited English Proficiency. See a current map of our EnergySmart School across Nevada.

Map of schools and organizations participating in the EnergySmart program

Professional Development

EnergySmart teacher training

Our most recent, past EnergySmart Education teacher training event was held virtually on November 18th & 29th, 2021. The event focused on how renewable energy could address issues in environmental justice. Guest speakers Dr. Jennifer Willett from UNR and Dr. Alan Gertler from DRI covered the topics of environmental justice, current research in energy resources and climate change, and the “Research for Change” project.

Video recordings of the lectures can be found on our YouTube channel. Click here to view!

Questions? Contact Leah Madison at leah.madison@dri.edu

Home Energy

Because we know students take home what they learn at school, we’ve developed tools to enhance energy education at home. Families can find home energy savings; NV Energy and Southwest Gas.

Calling ALL 4th Grade Teachers in northern and rural Nevada counties! – A FREE EnergySmart Home Kit is available to you!

In Fall 2022, 800 EnergySmart Home Kits were sent to 4th grade classrooms across Northern and Rural Nevada. This interactive energy activity reinforces energy conservation and water efficiency concepts from 4th grade NGSS Standards. The program provides an engaging presentation from our own “Dr. Megawatt”, empowering students to be leaders in energy efficient behaviors in their daily lives. Sign up to join the program in 2023 here!

For questions about this program, contact Shawna Witt at shawna.witt@dri.edu.

This program is made possible by the generous support of Southwest Gas Corporation.

EnergySmart PSA

Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are flyers and videos created to raise awareness and change public attitudes and behavior toward a social issue. Effective PSAs often have a powerful message that sticks with the viewer, sometimes becoming part of a society’s collective norm. We host a yearly EnergySmart PSA contest for high school students throughout Nevada to help create awareness around energy conservation and efficiency.

Check out last year’s PSA winners by clicking the links below!

Middle School Winners:

High School Winners:

Questions? Email Shawna Witt, our STEM Education Coordinator at shawna.witt@dri.edu

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Watch the 2020 EnergySmart PSA Video Announcement winners by clicking the links below!

1st – Decatur’s EnergySmart PSA Video

2nd – Esther’s EnergySmart PSA Video

3rd – Jett’s EnergySmart PSA Video

The EnergySmart Theater Troupe is a musical theater presentation for 2nd-3rd grade elementary classrooms in Nevada, sponsored by the Southwest Gas Corporation. Sing along with Lazy Lou the energy waster and a group of energy scientists as they learn about easy energy and water conservation techniques we can all implement. Prepare to have energy songs stuck in your head all day!

All Nevadans are encouraged to view and use our Rewewable Energy Spotlight highlighting the various renewable energy resources in Nevada. Click the links below to learn about the energy companies, watch virtual tours and informative video clips, and explore all of the benefits of using each renewable energy source.