Surviving off the Grid

Have you ever gone on a camping, fishing or mountain hiking trip where you had no electricity, running water or internet connection?
Some people might refer to this as “living off the grid.” In this lesson, you will learn all about what it takes to live off the grid.

Would you consider this type of a getaway as living off the grid? Read this article to see if you’d be interested in living without modern amenities. If you had to live without them, how would you like to go about it – a bit more glamorous, or would you like to rough it more?

Resources

Boondocking
Survivor TV show
Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources
Alternative Energy
Glamorous off-grid living.
BEST resources

Research/Reflect/Brainstorm

There’s so many different ways to live off the grid – whether you prefer accommodations like a tiny home or just sleeping between the trees, there’s all types of ways to live off the grid. These are just the start to how you can spend time away from the rest of the world. But just how many are there? Time to find out. Research the different types of accommodations or ways you can live off the grid. What do you need to survive: What resources would you generally need? What goods would you need to take with you? Is there anything you would personally need that others may not? What are the necessities for surviving off the grid? Go through these items, and rank the different types of accommodation from the most luxurious to the least luxurious.

Activity

When living off the grid, you’re going to need some type of energy source. Whether you bring a source – like a portable generator – or use natural sources, it’s necessary to survival.

1. Start off by defining renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
2. Make a list of renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
3. What are some alternative energy sources?
4. Describe some advantages and disadvantages to using renewable energy sources to power a home.
5. What types of alternative energy could you use to power a home?
6. Explain what it means for a house to be “off the grid.”

BEST Connection

One of the components of the BEST competition, specifically in the engineering notebook, is using computer-aided design, or CAD, to design your robot. If you’ve never used CAD before, this is a great time to start learning. Design a simple house using CAD that would be your dream home for living off the grid. If you don’t have access to CAD, you may use any free online 3D modeling software. Be sure to refer to the different types of alternative energy you learned above.

Community Connection

Now that you know what it takes to live off the grid, would you be able to do it where you live now? Are there people that live in your community or nearby living off the grid? Do you know someone that is living off the grid? Talk to them and find out what it’s like. Who knows, maybe you can invite someone to speak with your classmates about living off the grid.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy: create, explore, evaluate, generate, include, identify, list, observe, reflect, review, use, and write

Workforce Skills

Critical thinking, materials evaluation, reading comprehension, science, writing, researchWould you consider this type of getaway as living off the grid?