For the students of Mrs. Van den Eynden’s grade 5/6 class, they are taking their learning of being environmentally conscious and using it in the hopes of winning the Energy Diet Challenge. The Classroom Energy Diet Challenge is a competition that students across the country will use to increase their energy awareness and help improve energy literacy in Canada. Classes from kindergarten to Grade 12 from across Canada will compete in this competition where up to $40,000 in prizes is up for grabs.
There are three streams to the competition: the Classroom Challenge, the Video Contest and the School Energy Project. As classes progress through the competition, students will learn about their energy habits and share their knowledge with the rest of the country.
Throughout the competition, each class will complete a series of energy-themed, curriculum-linked challenges that teach them about diverse energy issues. Each time a class completes a challenge, they will earn points. In order to receive these points, the teacher must submit proof of students’ work (in the form of photos, worksheets, etc.) through the contest website or through the Classroom Energy Diet Challenge app. The more challenges a class completes, the more points they will earn. All classes who achieve thirty points or more will be eligible for great prizes. For every challenge a class completes, they will be entered into a draw for $100.
Mrs. Van den Eynden’s grade 5/6 class is currently working on a project that enlisted the help of local coffee shop, the Waiting Room Café. The Waiting Room café is located right across the street from East Lake School and always step up to the plate to help those in the community.
The students decided to make beautiful flowers out of recycled to go cups from the Waiting Room Café. For weeks the café has been collecting used to go cups at their location, giving them a wash and sending them over to the students, so they could make their paper cup flowers. Once completed, the Waiting Room Café has agreed to display the students’ creation – which is part of the competition criteria.
Last year, Mrs. Van den Eynden’s class won $2000 to which they used to plant a tree at Prairie Waters Elementary (where Mrs. Van den Eynden previously taught as East Lake school was not yet built) and the class took an exciting field trip to Cardel Place where they went swimming and rock climbing.
One student, Lauren O’Bertos, participated last year and is also taking part in this year’s challenge. “I was very excited to hear that we were getting the chance to do this again. It was so much fun last year”. Last year the students built robots out of recycled material and it was displayed at the Chestermere Public Library.
The proud teacher of this glass, Christina Van den Eynden, says “I think it is such a valuable and engaging learning opportunity for both myself and the kids. I know each year I am learning more about saving energy. I find it is really eye opening for the students how much energy we use and waste every day. The best part is it all fits with our social studies and science curriculum. The prizes are very motivating as well “.
The challenge falls under the Social Studies curriculum as it is a partnership between Canadian Geographic and Shell Canada. The Challenge kicked off February 2, 2015 and will close on April 28, 2015. Good luck to Mrs. Van den Eynden’s class!
