Abstract:

Over the years, there has been an increase in demand for electrical power. Such demands require the fossil-fuel power stations to burn more fuel. This causes heavy air pollution, which is detrimental the environment and our health. We are rapidly approaching the point of no return in terms of air pollution. This reflected in damage to the marine environment (such as fish, corals, sea water pollution) and groundwater contamination, a drastic 5 °C increase in global temperature, rainfall pollution and more. The conclusion is clear, the world population must unite and make a paradigm shift in order to significantly reduce the damage for electrical power worldwide. Such an effort must be made by the entire world population and not just by individuals. To address the problem, a course has been set up at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). The course is named “Green Ambassadors”, and the goal is to educate the next generation in energy efficiency. The course is divided into 7 groups; each group contains 2 to 3 students, whose goal is to provide information on energy efficiency to the school's first and second graders. The teams of first-graders and second-graders from “Revivim” school in Holon have been chosen to take part in the project. As a part of the course, the students of HIT give the school pupils several 90-minute lessons, focused on energy efficiency and ways to save energy. Those methods are described and detailed using demonstrations of simple every-day actions, such as turning off the light when leaving a room and opening the shades in daytime. In order to demonstrate the subject in a practical and experiential way, the students use a mobile laboratory. The laboratory contains several demonstration kits on various subjects, such as renewable energy, air pollution, waste and recycling, soil ecology and water sector. During the class, the children perform several experiments independently while supervised by HIT students. Using these kits, the students demonstrate the principles of energy efficiency in several ways, this helps to lead the children to the conclusion that energy efficiency can be achieved using simple ways and tools and confidence to preserve the knowledge of how to keep the environment safe. Such confidence enables the children to be more vigilant in protecting the environment where they live and gives them the moral privilege and the right to warn against environmental damage and energy waste. Using a combination of both theoretical and practical studies, the issue is better preserved in the students' memory. It provides knowledge for future use, even after the lesson. By that, the students are becoming “Green Ambassadors” who want their surroundings to become more energy efficient. This course is the beginning of a paradigm shift regarding energy usage in the modern society in Israel. The objective of the course is to expand worldwide and train the first and second-graders, and even preschoolers, in a wide scope to increase population awareness rate, both in Israel and all over the world, for a green future.

Keywords:

Green Ambassadors, energy efficiency, children, student, education.