By Erin Mathe

The homepage of Xcel Energy’s external Web site, www.xcelenergy.com, now is spotlighting Energy Classroom, the online energy and conservation learning tool for students and their teachers.

In Energy Classroom, two energy experts, Nicki and Tony, guide students through features in which they will:

• See how power plants can be cleaner and more efficient.
• Find out how a wind farm works, from the ground up.
• Visit a solar city.
• Discover new ways architects and builders save energy when they think green.

Some of the links included on the main page include:

Power Sources - Find out where energy comes from and how electricity is created.  Get a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of each energy source.

Virtual Power Plant Tour - Grab a hard hat and come along as we go behind the scenes at a power plant. You’ll learn where the electricity you use every day is made. See the whole process up close, from coal to current!

Conservation - Saving energy doesn’t have to be painful. Learn good reasons to save energy, and actions you can take right now to help protect the environment and use energy more wisely.

Clean Energy Planet - What kind of a planet will we leave for the next generation? See some of the newest efforts to make cleaner energy for the future, starting now!

Power & Wildlife - Can a power company have a strong nesting instinct? We do at Xcel Energy! Find out how the company is working with naturalists to protect wildlife, especially birds, and improve habitat.

Careers In Energy - Explore the surprising variety of interesting careers available at an energy company, and “interview” some of our employees to find out what it’s like to work at Xcel Energy.

Power Questions - Stuck on an energy question for your school paper?  Here are the answers to some of the questions we at Xcel Energy get most often from students.

Power Words - Expand your energy vocabulary with this glossary, designed to help students master new energy concepts.

For Teachers - Read this information for tips on maximizing Energy Classroom materials in your classroom to meet third- to fifth-grade science learning standards, and make your students smart energy consumers.

Each page has its own “Did you Know” detail to give students quick and easy energy facts. Resources include an interactive puzzle and ”Watts Up,” a game about saving energy; crossword puzzles, and quizzes and facts on energy sources and how people use energy.

Energy Classroom provides online learning modules for students, grades three to five, and helps them learn more about power, conservation, careers in energy and environmental protection. All Energy Classroom learning modules are equipped with teachers’ guides, plus activities for students such as worksheets, videos, games and other learning tools.

Xcel Energy’s elementary education materials are available throughout the company’s eight-state service area. For more on Energy Classroom, visit www.energyclassroom.com.