Twenty-eight Washington School students took the pledge this week - to shut the door, turn off the lights, conserve water and do anything else they can to make their homes more energy-efficient.
They also initiated a new exhibit in the Children's Museum of Utah. The exhibit features computer programs that teach children about energy. The colorful Gaston Therme, whose French accent belies some very American ideas, develops such themes on the different types of energy and tests the children on what they have learned.One section of the Energy Arcade allows a child to design a house with a variety of options that will either enhance or weaken its energy efficiency.
They can choose a roof color, where to place the house, whether to have single or double window panes, which building material to select and whether to opt for curtains or blinds.
"Oops. You have designed a home that is not very energy-efficient," the computer tells a youngster who chose a less-desirable option.
The fifth-graders, students of Denise Gunterman, also heard a lecture on how to conserve energy and enthusiastically played paper games to test how well they had listened to the 28 energy-saving tips.
"This is a new concept for most of these children," Gunterman said. "They need to learn these things. We'll be in trouble in our country (environmentally) if we don't do something now."
Linda Nielson of the Utah Energy Office said the exhibits, which the office helped prepare, are in line with the effort to teach children to be energy-conscious.
"This museum is a great opportunity to reach children," she said.