Home

About Us

WATT'S UP?

The scientific community recognizes the impact of electricity production from coal and natural gas on our air quality. Greenhouse gases from these emissions contribute to global warming, generally recognized as an authentic concern. These issues have an immediate impact on the future quality of life for today’s students.

Click here to download and print out the entry form! (~0.5 MB, requires Acrobat reader)

What can we do today to lessen that impact?

That is the question WATTS UP? is encouraging Texas teachers to explore with their classes.

Open to all Texas students, the challenge is an educational competition designed to engage students in the exploration of creative messaging tools to promote energy solutions today. Students will need to understand the importance of energy conservation. They will need to investigate alternative energy sources for cleaner, sustainable electricity production. Then they will need to create ways to convey their understanding to their fellow students and motivate altered behavior patterns.

Just as our energy future requires “out-of-the-box” thinking, students are encouraged to engage their own creative energies in unique ways. The overall challenge is to convey a meaningful message, student-to-student, about our energy future and why renewable energy and conservation are vital pieces of the solution. This message, which should be aimed at fellow students, can be conveyed in any number of ways.

Rules of Eligibility

• WATTS UP? is open to all Texas students.
• Entries must convey a positive, peer-to-peer message about energy conservation and/or the use renewable energy in Texas.
• Entries must be the student’s original work.
• Entries must be accompanied by the official WATTS UP? entry form.
• All entries require the signature of the student, teacher and parent or guardian.

Students may enter multiple projects under one or more of the following:

• Language arts projects, such as poetry, skit scripts, or short stories
• Graphic design projects, such as web sites, logos or comic books
• Visual arts of any medium, such as photography, watercolor, or pastels
• Performing arts projects, such as original music (lyrics) or radio spots where the entry is a taped performance
• Mentoring projects that show documentation of methods and results of teaching younger students
• Science or technology projects that show results and documentation of experiments, models or computer technology

Judging Criteria

Entries will be grouped and judged within the following grade clusters:

• Grades 4 – 5
• Grades 6 – 8
• High school

A panel of judges selected by Solar San Antonio will evaluate the entries. The panel will be comprised of educators, energy professionals and SSA staff. The decision of the judges will be final. Regional winners will be selected from within designated geographical areas. The ten winning entries from each region will then be entered into a statewide competition. The SSA panel of judges will select one winner from within each grade cluster at the statewide level during the final month of the competition.

The entries will be evaluated on a point system, with 50 maximum points allowable. Points will be allotted on the following basis:

1. Creativity and originality of entry - 15 points
2. Entry demonstrates an understanding of energy conservation and renewable energy and their importance to Texas’ energy future - 20 points
3. Entry conveys a meaningful and useful message to peers - 15 points

Competition Awards

Regional Level:

One winning entry will be selected at each grade level from within the designated geographical areas. Every class from which the
winning entry was submitted will be provided with a wind turbine kit for each student in that class. Additional educational awards will be presented to the teachers of the classes with the winning entries. The intention of these awards is to provide classroom materials for further exploration of renewable energy.

Grades 4 – 5 winning class teachers will receive an Alternative Energy Supply Kit providing the hands-on materials required for the class to complete the six Infinite Power of Texas Units of Study appropriate to elementary lesson plans.

Grades 6 – 8 winning class teachers will receive an Alternative Energy Supply Kit providing the hands-on materials required for the class to complete the nine Infinite Power of Texas Units of Study appropriate to middle school lesson plans.

High school winning class teachers will receive an Alternative Energy Supply Kit providing the hands-on materials required for the class to complete the seven Infinite Power of Texas Units of Study appropriate to high school lesson plans.

Every teacher of students submitting entries will receive a CD that includes 22 renewable energy Units of Study providing instructions for hands-on, classroom activities, and a 20-minute video narrated by Dan Rather on the Infinite Power of Texas. Each teacher will also receive a PITSCO catalogue of educational supplies.

State Level:

The 30 winning entries from the regional level will be automatically entered into a statewide competition from which one winner will
be selected at each grade level. The following cash prizes will be awarded the individual student submitting the winning entry:

• $500 winning high school student
• $300 winning grades 6 –8 student
• $100 winning grades 4 - 5 student

In addition, the teachers of the winning entries at the statewide level will receive the following PITSCO educational kits:

• Solar Vehicle Kit (a $395 Value) for grades 4 - 5 winning classroom teacher
• Wind Energy Kit (a $619 value) for grades 6 – 8 winning classroom teacher
• Wind Energy Kit plus fuel cell system demo (a $235 value) and fuel cell car kit (a $150 value) for high school winning classroom teacher (total value of $1,004)

Entry Submission

Please click here to download and print out the official entry form - 1 for each entry. Mail entries by May 1, 2006 to:

WATTS UP?
Solar San Antonio
118 Broadway, Suite 232
San Antonio, TX 78205

Please note that entries become the property of the Texas Solar Energy Society and the Texas State Energy Conservation Office and will not be returned. No guarantee is made against loss or damage. Winning entries may be used in future Infinite Power of Texas
educational campaigns.