Smithsonian Science Education Center Launches Ninth Freely Available Research Guide for Youth Ages 11-18
Approximately 675 million people worldwide do not have consistent access to electricity, and almost 1 billion people lack safe and clean energy sources for cooking. To live on a Sustainable Planet, we need to change our relationship with energy and young people can play a key role in this effort by improving personal, community and global energy use, ensuring a safer and more sustainable energy future for all.
The Smithsonian Science Education Center, in collaboration with the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), has developed Energy! How can we ensure sustainable energy for all?, a new community research guide for youth ages 11–18. Underpinned by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the guide aims to help young people explore how their communities can create a more sustainable future by using sustainable energy sources, adopting sustainable energy practices, and increasing energy access and equity both locally and globally.
As part of the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project, Energy! is the ninth freely available guide and includes research, activities, and perspectives from subject matter experts on various energy topics. Within the guide, students explore topics including sustainable sources of energy, sustainable practices in cooking, transportation, and industrial energy use in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. The Smithsonian Science for Global Goals guides integrate inquiry-based science education with social and emotional learning and civic engagement.
“As world leaders gather to make decisions on climate and the future of our planet, we want to bring a voice to the 1.2 billion youth who will be affected by these conversations," said Carol O’Donnell, Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center. “This new freely available guide gives young people the tools to discover, understand and act on complex concepts around the theme of energy, and encourages students to engineer solutions to sustainable energy challenges in their local communities creating Life on a Sustainable Planet.”
Energy! How can we ensure sustainable energy for all? was made possible through the support of General Motors. The development of the conceptual framework that is foundational to all Smithsonian Science for Global Goals guides was funded through a grant from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.
About the Smithsonian Science Education Center
The Smithsonian Science Education Center is transforming K–12 Education Through Science in collaboration with communities across the globe. Visit the Smithsonian Science Education Center and Smithsonian Science for Global Goals website and follow on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About the InterAcademy Partnership
Under the umbrella of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), more than 140 national, regional and global member academies work together to support the vital role of science in seeking evidence-based solutions to the world’s most challenging problems. In particular, IAP harnesses the expertise of the world’s scientific, medical and engineering leaders to advance sound policies, improve public health, promote excellence in science education and achieve other critical development goals. See www.interacademies.org and follow IAP on Twitter and YouTube.