Jamie and Conrad of the National Theatre for Children travel the country to present a short show called “The Energize Guys.” This show teaches kids about four basic principles of energy;

1. What is energy?
2. What are the uses of energy?
3. How is energy wasted?
4. How can we conserve energy?

The Energize Guys is a team of superheroes managed by U. R. Fired. Everyday the superheroes go out into the city to fight crime. And this time there is an energy emergency. Mr. U. R. Fired assigns the job to Nikki Neutron a newly graduated superhero. The Sneaker (who is often called The Squeaker) is wasting all the energy and resources! Nikki must find a retired superhero, Thunder Storm, who teaches her about resources. He explains to Nikki the differences between non-renewable and renewable resources and that using them together is a great idea. Along the way she meets Bert the Dirt Guy, who loves saving dirt, but the thing he likes more than dirt is saving energy! Bert gives Nikki all new ways to conserve energy. Nikki gets a volunteer from the new class of superheros, Super Awesome-Man, to help her remember all the ways to conserve energy to beat The Sneaker! Nikki and Super Awesome-Man defeat The Sneaker by telling him to “open your eyes, be energy wise!”

So to answer those questions from before;

1. What is energy? Energy is the ability to do work.
2. What are the uses of energy? We can use energy for a million things like lighting our lights, cooling or heating our homes, and anything that plugs into a wall.
3. How is energy wasted? We waste energy by not turning out the lights, leaving appliances plugged in when they aren’t in use, and not using efficient lightbulbs.
4. How can we conserve energy? Unplugging things when they are not in use, avoiding phantom loads by using power strips so that you can turn them off, using a programable thermostat, and changing lightbulbs to Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs or LED bulbs. 

And remember, open your eyes, be energy wise!