This Learning Unit is full of classroom resources designed for middle schoolers who are planning to take the School Lighting Challenge and use the GE Lighting Auditor to evaluate and improve their school's use of energy for lighting.

The four lessons included in this Learning Unit will give students the background knowledge and skills they need to use the GE Lighting Auditor. They'll prepare with activities especially designed to teach:

In this Lesson, students will learn that light is a form of energy and part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

In this Lesson, students will learn about different types of light bulbs, their properties, and how they work.

In this Lesson, students will learn how light is measured and how to choose the right bulb for any job.

In this Lesson, students will learn about how Thomas Edison and Lewis Latimer transformed the modern world with their brilliant innovations.

When your students are ready, you can guide them as they use the GE Lighting Auditor to take the School Lighting Challenge. They'll find out how the lighting in your school building works, how much it costs, and if there are any ways to save money with energy efficient practices.

Each Lesson is designed to take 3 to 6 class periods of 30 to 40 minutes in length. The activities that make up each lesson are of three types:

Read Abouts are non-fiction articles about people  or scientific ideas about light. Look for the Before, During and After Reading Helps along the way.

Hands-on Activities engage the students in creating things or demonstrating concepts about light.

Experiments give students the chance to be real scientists and conduct some of the same investigations real geniuses (such as Edison and Latimer) used to invent real things we use every day (such as light bulbs).

The Lesson Plans describe a convenient sequence for the activities that make up the lesson and offer in-depth background on concepts, teaching suggestions, and ideas for extending the student's learning.

The Assessments section contains 5-question quizes for each Lesson and a 10-question test covering the entire Unit. All assessments include both multiple choice and constructed response questions. (Students also have a chance to quiz themselves and get immediate feedback after they complete each Lesson.)

You may want to consider documenting your school's energy saving audit results in a class letter to the school principal or other school administrators.

The Toolkit contains a bibliography of readings and Websites that will enrich your student's study, a glossary of terms used in the Lessons, and a KWL chart.