Lesson 2: Planning a Campaign

Supporters of

the Big Energy Efficiency Project

Lesson objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will be able to:1. Identify the ways in which energy is wasted at home2. Explain how to use a campaign to change behaviour3. Be able to produce their own campaign outline

The Challenge• Students will create a campaign to persuade

people to be more energy efficient.• You have the opportunity to enter the best

campaign from your school into The Challenge

The best campaign submitted by Year 7s or S1 students and the best campaign submitted by Year 8/9s or S2/3 students will win:

• £1000 worth of science equipment vouchers for their school

• £50 personal vouchers to be given to each team member*

*Please refer to terms and conditions, which can be downloaded from the Pod (www.jointhepod.org/beep)

With thanks to The Royal Institution

ACTIVITY 1The Guzzlers: Wasting Energy

Read the story of the Guzzler family on the worksheet.

1. Underline sentences in the text related to wastefulness.2. Can you identify the energy that is being wasted by the Guzzler family?3. How could they waste less energy?4. Are there any other ways in which your household wastes energy at home?

Optional Activity - Decide the best ways the family could improve the efficiencyand write an energy plan to help them.

Homework feedback discussion – What have you learned about how energy isused/wasted at home? What examples do you have?

Thinking About Campaigns• What types of campaigns can you think of? • (marketing, political, environmental, public awareness etc)

• Can you think of any examples of campaigns?• (road safety, anti-smoking, election, animal rights etc)

• How do campaigns communicate their message? • (poster campaigns, social media, TV, lobbying, news stories etc)

• Define ‘Campaign’• An organised course of action to achieve a goal.

• An organised effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a

specific group.

Campaign case studyPre-Campaign Situation:• Wildlife populations worldwide have declined by 52% since 1970.• We need 1.5 Earths to meet the demands we currently make on nature.

Desired Situation:• Younger people becoming more aware of declining numbers of wildlife• Younger people taking action now and in the future to prevent this• “The upcoming generation must seize the opportunity to close this destructive

chapter in our history, and build a future in which people live and prosper in harmony with nature” – Director General of WWF International

The solution:• A successful social media campaign to spread awareness of endangered species

was run by WWF in 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=0&v=TOAHBSxMBEA

1. Who do you think the video and the snaps from Snapchat are aimed at?

•How do they capture people’s attention?

•What important information is included?

2. What do you think people may do as a result of seeing the videos or snaps?

ACTIVITY 2:

#LastSelfie

How was the message shared?• Snapchat• Other social media sites incl. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook• YouTube channelThis is a social media campaign – why did they choose this method to reach

young people? How would you share a message about endangered species with older people?

Key messages & results The campaign had clear messages:• A variety of animals are endangered, and

their existence could be over as quickly as a snap on Snapchat.

• You can help by visiting the WWF website or texting.

Results: • 40,000 shares on Twitter in the first day• Translation into languages across the WWF

network within a week (100 different countries)

What made this campaign successful?

Identify the main ways in which energy is wasted at homeWork in teams to develop your own campaign to encourage

people to change and become more energy efficient.

Your Challenge!

• Encourage people to make positive changes to the way they use energy, and explain the environmental and cost benefits.

• Teams will present their campaign and results at the end of the project. Students will be asked to record how many people they reach.

• The best school campaign team could be entered into The Challenge to win vouchers for the team members and for the school.*

*Please refer to terms and conditions, which can be downloaded from the Pod (www.jointhepod.org)

Judging the campaigns As a group you will work together to judge the best campaign in your

school, using the following criteria:

• Switch Off Fortnight – encouraging people to switch off lights and electrical items when not in use.

• Waste Week – encouraging people to reduce waste associated with food.

Examples of energy efficiency campaigns:

ACTIVITY 3Step 1: Develop Your campaign ideas

Work in teams to record your ideas on the worksheet.1. Campaign name.2. Description of the problem you wish to change – explain how energy is

currently being wasted in the home.3. Campaign aim - what changes will your campaign aim to deliver and

how will this help people?4. Target audience – who will your campaign be aimed at?5. Campaign plan – including the activities you will deliver.6. Results

- How many people you reached.- Who you reached.- Evidence that people have made changes

In the final session we will judge the best campaign!

Some ideas for your campaign activities:

1. Visit www.jointhepod.org and read about the campaign activity. Pick one campaign (such as Waste Week or Switch-Off Fortnight).

a. What do you think the campaign aims to achieve?b. What will the campaign encourage people to do differently?

2. Visit http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Find and write down 1 tip for each of the following:

a. To save money on lightingb. To save money on hot waterc. To insulate your homed. Save money on heating bills

Next lesson you will be moving onto Step 2 - Organising and running your campaigns!

Homework