In February 2009, the Foundation for Energy Education and the Offshore Energy Center (OEC) formed a formal partnership to expand energy education in schools across Texas. This effort builds on an existing program that the Center already had underway in the greater Houston area. It is part of the Foundation's program, "The Facts About Oil and Gas."
Initially, the partnership is focusing on expanding usage of the Centerís Mobile Offshore Learning Unit (MOLU) across the state. It will also increase participation of elementary and secondary teachers in the Centerís Project E3: Expanding Energy Education workshops. These workshops train teachers on how to utilize the MOLU, as well as two types of in-the-classroom teaching kitsó"Playing With Petroleum" for grades K through 5; and "Knowledge Boxes" for grades 6 through 12. Given the growing importance of energy in peopleís daily lives, we believe it is critical to provide todayís children with this essential knowledge in a fun and easy-to-understand manner. These initiatives are an important complement to the Foundationís other educational activities.
More information on each of the three teaching units/kits is available at the links below. For a copy of the press release on the Foundation/OEC partnership, please go to the "News Releases" section of the "News Center."