Conservation Station: Creating a More Resourceful World aims to create a nationwide dialogue on the importance of students’ understanding of current and future energy needs, resource utilization and conservation. The program materials dive into the relationship between energy and water and how innovative technologies are working to conserve both resources through the core pillars of resourcefulness: effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability.
Conservation Station: Creating a More Resourceful World offers standards-aligned STEM Investigations and a virtual field trip that expose students to the energy-water nexus and the unexpected connections between the two resources. Our society depends on both energy and water, two resources that are critical to a modern civilization. This program highlights how they depend on each other – we use energy for water, and water for energy. A shortage in one means a shortage in the other which is why it is important for students to learn how to view these two resources through the lens of conservation in order to lead a sustainable future. Educators from across the country were involved in the ideation of these resources and continue to be a source of guidance as the program grows and evolves, ensuring that the materials created are actually filling a need in the classroom.
Conservation Station centers on the core pillars of resourcefulness: effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability, challenging students to think strategically on how to continue to power our world in a way that keeps conservation at the forefront. Strategically aligned to Earth Day, the Week of Resourcefulness is when Conservation Station launches 5 new STEM Investigations each day of the week that explore the connections at the heart of the energy-water nexus. Students will learn how to conceptualize this idea and relate it to their own environment at school and at home.
On a larger scale, the Smart Cities virtual field trip teaches students what exactly it means for a city to be “smart” and how innovative urban technologies are solving today’s challenges related to the conservation of energy and water. Hosted at Itron’s Innovation Center, students will see smart city technology in action and learn how Itron’s leading innovators—engineers, data scientists and application developers—are building sustainable communities of the future.
IMPLEMENTATION
Conservation Station: Creating a More Resourceful World launched in October 2018 with a strong marketing campaign designed to expose educators to these resources and encourage their use in the classroom. By tapping into Discovery Education’s access to 4.5 million educators and 50 million students, this program was promoted via targeted outreach to key regions and audiences; media campaign on DiscoveryEducation.com, a top teacher site with more than 948,000 monthly visitors; education trade press; social media; direct-to-teacher targeted e-blasts and e-newsletter callouts; local Discovery Education community blog posts; and grassroots outreach to Discovery Education’s influential teacher community.
Conservation Station has had a profound impact on students and their understanding of the energy-water nexus in the short time since it was launched less than a year ago. The program has reached approximately 121,000 students and has had over 700 resource downloads. After surveying educators who watched the premiere of the virtual field trip, 85% said their students were somewhat or definitely more knowledgeable after viewing the video.
