Raising Community Energy Awareness: Building an Energy Display at the Mayborn Museum

Abstract

Energy is becoming an increasingly important topic in our lives. Watching the price of energy skyrocket, in particular electricity and gasoline, seems to elicit disapproval of the price increases but little more. America has become indifferent to energy issues and continues to pay the higher prices without much thought. This paper will begin by examining the state of the general public concerning energy and its lack of energy literacy. Most people have not begun to understand the complex nature of the energy challenge. Poor energy literacy led the authors to submit a proposal to a local foundation in 2006 to develop an “Energy Room” at the Mayborn Museum on the Baylor University campus. The Mayborn Museum is a facility that “provides a wide spectrum of learning opportunities to engage all types of visitors.”