Snowy Mountains primary school students came to grips with sources of clean, green energy during a two-day camp at Talbingo Public School.

About 105 students from Talbingo Public and eight surrounding schools converged on the school’s energy park late last year for learning activities based on the theme of renewable energy.

Talbingo Public School teacher Sharon Rankmore said the camp was the culmination of a year’s work by the students on renewable energy.

“Their knowledge is just fantastic, all of the kids seem to have taken the message of renewable energy on board,” she said.

During the camp students witnessed the production of electricity via a wind generator, cakes were baked in solar ovens and students created energy efficient models as part of a competition.

Other activities included a session on wind energy presented by Questacon representatives and a tour of the T3 power station at the Snowy Mountains Hydro- Electric Scheme.

Children’s environmental science writer Caren Trafford presented workshops and artist Geoff Naylor produced murals depicting local scenes with renewable energy sources.

The camp is part of a federally funded program to create a green energy park in Talbingo Public School’s playground featuring solar, wind, hydro and geothermal powered items.

Teachers working with the Riverina Environmental Education Centre have used the grant money to develop online units of work – “Water” “Wind” and “Sun” – for Early Stage 1, Stage 1 and Stage 2 students.

Ms Rankmore said Talbingo Public students were already fulfilling a project goal by sharing their knowledge of renewable energy use and acting as “tour guides” for visitors to the school’s energy park.