Tips and Ideas

Olivia Horne – 2009 K-5 Student Winner

• Think about your daily activities that use energy. What can you do to make a difference? Even something small can make a big difference and save energy!
• Once you choose a project, do your homework. Research your subject – go to the library, search the internet. You can also visit places or talk to people who know about your subject.
• Now, think about how you can share what you’ve learned. How can you get your idea across? Decide what method (i.e. video, book, poster) to use and make a plan.
• After you’ve made a plan for your project, work hard to make it happen. Be creative and have fun!
• Before you mail your project, double-check your work to make sure you’ve followed the ICE guidelines.

Maddie Reichman – 2009 6-8 grade Student Winner

• Personalize the project as much as you can, explain clearly your personal reasons for caring about energy conservation.
• Go out into your community and tell people about your project, many of my friends and family changed their habits because of my own plans and my own habits.
• When you start your project, study the facts. There are many great documents on energy conservation. Find a problem in your community that is important to you and think of a creative way to help spread the word or solve the problem in your home or community.
• ICE is a great way to learn what impact kids have in our society. My mom says she never even thought of idling as a problem until she had a twelve-year-old daughter sitting in the back seat telling her to turn her car off. Take that power and make it useful, adults will listen if you tell.
• Read or listen to opposing speeches about your topic. This opens up your brain and helps you understand your problem more clearly, while giving you interesting facts about why people may think differently then you. When you understand the other side, you can defend your own better. Getting you more involved in your energy conservation project.

Suzanne Warren – 2009 9-12 grade Student Winner

• When I initially decided to enter the ICE Challenge, I knew I wanted to prove to people something about the way they think/believe and how they act/how much they know about the environment. I found a lot of people didn’t always practice what they preached, or thought they knew things about the environment that they didn’t fully understand so I started with my general concept that I wanted to portray and went from there. I threw a few ideas around and then realized my mom could make those awesome cards, and the ideas just fed themselves from there.
• I would suggest for future participants to get started thinking several months ahead, and determine what exactly they want to get across in their project. Whether it be a learning tool, or a reminder to do something, or something that compels people to start acting more sustainability, this is really where one needs to start.
• Be constantly thinking about the project and make daily lists of things that need to get done. For me, it was the second semester of my Sr year of High School, so adding extra work to my load while waiting for summer to come, was pretty difficult. I had to constantly remind myself that I needed to work on my project every week and get certain aspects of it done by set deadlines I was always making for myself. I didn’t anticipate all the work and small details that had to be hammered out as I went, so time management and persistent work on my project was key.