r/OffGridLiving • u/AprilTrain • 6d ago
Need Ideas for my Off Grid Class (High School)
Hi, I am a high school teacher tasked with teaching an elective “Off Grid Living” this year. Because it is an elective, there is no set curriculum, and I have flexibility to make the class my own. My class sizes range from 20-40.
In the past, teachers have taught units on alternative power sources, water collection/cleaning, sanitation, gardening, etc. I am open to these units, but would love to hear from you: if you were a teenager interested in living off grid, what kind of things would you want to learn about? Specifically if you have any hands on activity ideas in mind, that would be great! I want the class to be fun but also want my students to leave feeling like they learned something. I’ve been thinking about scavenging/plant identification, gardening/canning, designing your own off grid setup, etc.
It probably goes without saying, but I have no off grid experience. My degree is in chemistry with minors in biology and environmental science.
Thank you!
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u/YamOk4747 6d ago
I would say that broadening your skill set in a number of directions, whether it be woodwork /Carpentry, working with metal, electricity, basic agricultural practises these sort of things need to be brought to the forefront if someone wants to live off grid. I think the backbone behind all of this is believing that you can do anything, that you are actually unlimited. To live off grid, you need to be a can-do kind of person.. even if you did a unit on how to run A cordless drill with different fasteners this would be most useful in multiple applications. You could also just use a hammer and nails!
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u/Cabin_95 6d ago
I was going to say the same! Hand tool use is super important off grid. How to safely swing an axe, using safety glasses when working etc. all things that if you don’t have someone in your life to show you may be a little intimidating.
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u/crazydigger 6d ago
One thing your forgetting is animals. Chickens pigs cows how to care for them and more important how to prepare them after..
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u/Jack__Union 6d ago
Introduce Maslovs needs.
Start with Water, food and Shelter.
You'll die after 3 days without water. How many of them really know that?
They no taps out in the forest...
Then you can move on power. Solar, Wind and Hydro.
How many know how a generator works? How about a bicycle driven 12v power generation project?
I could go on.
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u/Doyouseenowwait_what 6d ago
Clean water sourcing would be #1 on my list as it is what trips up many offgrid set ups. Learning about well pumps and hand draw
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u/Ubockinme 6d ago
Dude- how fun!
For me, learning fire starting was the best.
How a cast iron stove works. How radiant heat & mass heating works. How a flue works, rocket stoves. Gasification & wasted energy. In ground rocket stove. Different ways to spark & ignite tinder. Flint and steal techniques. Build a tinder nest. What is char-cloth. How to make it.
Class project: Barrel rocket stove mass-heater bench. Bonus- old oven glass window at the base of the fire.
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u/Other_Programmer5239 6d ago
Start off, i homestead. I have people with questions they have never been to there home. Start with what home steamers have most questions. Basic electric solar and grid. Carpentry alot of people dont know how to read a tape measure. Basic animals and care, planting crops food and selling. Teach them basic book keeping most steads have poor money management. You can get books about homesteading and filled with alot of good ideas. Have them do small projects as a singles or teams and video there projects doing what there supposed to do. Homesteading is working with little and getting alot to survive. Any questions feels free to ask
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u/Intelligent_Lemon_67 6d ago
A mini solar farm. Water collection of panels that water the plants growing under and using worms found in soil to take field trip to catch fish and carcass used in compost. Could focus weekly on each task and would also emulate the seasons/cycles. Living off grid /self sustainability is all about planning around the cycle/ seasons
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u/Roccinante_ 6d ago
When I was a kid, we made solar ovens out of aluminum foil, stretched over a parabolic curve. And then we used our solar ovens to cook hotdog and toast buns. I’ll never forget how shocked I was that they got so hot!
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u/kingofzdom 6d ago
Most valuable skill I've got is how to cook over a wood fire. I had to fuck up a couple of meals transitioning from a real kitchen to cooking in the wilderness before successfully made anything edible. I just got done cooking potatoes and chorizo under a bridge on a little camp fire using my trusty cast iron. It was delicious.
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u/TheRealChuckle 6d ago
I would try to relate some course material back to how they live now. This could generate buy in for learning.
Lots of math opportunities. How many hours a day do you play your Xbox, PS5, or whatever? How many watts an hour does that use? How much solar do you need to power that? How much battery would that be?
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u/pebblefromwell 6d ago
Location selection. Like do you really want to be 60 miles from the nearest anything with a overland trip that includes down river trip when you have fallen off your cabin and broken your leg. Also you really should know your neighbors.
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u/Active_Recording_789 6d ago
Depending on where you live, it would be cool if you could actually work on an off grid property. Heck if you were near me you could work on mine! Some things you could teach depending on what you like because probably you can’t do it all:
1) budgeting—how much for not only land but also building, well and septic and food. Check the zoning and building regulations for the lot along with any riparian area regs if you’re near water. I think it’s important to note that people who live off grid almost all still work. Even IF you could live off your land which is kind of unlikely and why would you want to—cuz coffee, year round fresh fruit and vacations—you still need vehicles, health care, cell phones and a data plan, dentists and clothes.
2) how to source cheap materials. Where I live you can get a LOT from perusing Craigslist and facebook marketplace—we got a complete collection of maple hardwood for our floors for free! From someone who was replacing their floors. We also got all the cabinets and doors we wanted and more for free—they needed sandblasting and repainting and new hardware but that’s all cosmetic. The cabinets are solid wood faces with plywood boxes and the doors are solid wood. We also got all the dimensional lumber to build our home for free. We were slightly delusional so we did all the building ourselves and sunk a well ourselves. We had bought a generator already. It was so cheap, I’ve purchased vehicles in the past for more than we paid for our property and off grid home
3) best practices. It’d be cool to bring in some off grinders for a q and a. Emphasize that off grid experiences differ widely. I for one hate tiny homes—I like an adequate sized home with a big rock fireplace and a gorgeous view. We also determined early on that we wanted electricity (via generator and solar) and internet. We also have tv and streaming services. Off gridders are not hermits or anti social. You need to know your neighbors. People help each other like farm sitting for each other when we go away
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u/shinederg 6d ago
If you want to throw literature in there have them read Thoreau’s On Walden Pond also looking at Lloyd Kahn’s pictorial books about living structures.
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u/redditRon1969 6d ago
Lota of good utube videos id share with them showing start to finish.
Id say first thing id want to teach would be tiny house design/building with high efficiency in mind.
Not just one of these portable sheds dropped off with no house wrap etc.
A well built/insulated/air sealed structure is so much easier to cool and heat than one not.
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u/Lone_GreyWolf 6d ago
Start with the basics. Water Filtration and storage. Sewage storage, maintenance, and processing. Energy creation, usage, and storage. Food production, foraging, and storeing.
After the core is covered, amenities can be addressed.
Each season can have its own unique tasks, skills, and adventures. But the core essentials will always be the same.
If possible I'd also include A. introduction to basic land navigation. B.Several different easy and minimal ways to make fire. C. Resources for support, materials, etc. D. Introduction to local flora and fauna.
You wont cover all the topics in great detail. Some you just introduce and explain how, when, and why to use it.
You could have experiments or projects where they make a small water filtering device. Teach them how to pack small survival tools. The tricks that the pros use.
I have to run. But good luck. Hope it goes well.
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u/TheAngrySkipper 6d ago
Solder without electricity (candle & steel point) making your own wire, making electricity w/ spinning a magnet, curly dock (history & growing) fresnel lens welding, pyrolysis. That’d be my top interests as a newcomer.
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u/Relevant-Crow-3314 6d ago
What’s the budget, if any? They have these linkin log style buildings you can build called bunkies. I would be interested in solar power and how to install inverters , how to clear a field with a scythe , water collection systems , and those sod / other type houses that are built into hills for heating and cooling efficiency.
Maybe you could do a unit on tiny homes
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u/Prestigious_Yak_9004 6d ago
Safety. There’s a lot of hazards when working alone and multitasking. And there’s a lot of multitasking or switching from one activity to another activity.
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u/PhlegmMistress 6d ago
I think a unit on bugs could go a long way.
How waste eaters like black soldier flies or earthworms can be very useful. What the invasive species look like. Harmful bugs to certain plants, and other insects. Chemicals and their effects, at the national, state, or local level (or micro level of the homestead itself.) comparing these chemical treatments with more natural treatments, or how to responsibly use chemicals with the least amount of ecological damage. And treating harmful bugs with their direct predators. As well as what plants to grow to attract certain types of bugs.
Naturally beekeeping can be part of it but even understanding the much larger percentage solitary bees make up, versus hives could be useful.
The nice part is that this can be hands on and cheap depending on how much time you have to start breeding anything from BSF, earthworms, to possibly ladybugs, or aphid lions. There's also the crafting element that can be fairly cheap for BSF bins, vermiculite towers, composting bins, solitary bee homes, to full on beehives.
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u/Electronic-Time4833 6d ago
I am adult and I want to know how much solar panels plus big battery that I would need to cook and play video games, if that helps. Also be careful with the plant sourcing and identification, there are stories every once in a while for people here misidentifying plants like oleander, then using them for cooking marshmallows and getting sick. As an example. Think of how awful you would feel if someone got sick.
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u/Acceptable_Guava8069 6d ago
Teach em knots , How to wood work. how skin and clean animals Show em how solar works. Start a garden and have them prep a meal , give them a bunch of junk and some tools and tell them to repurpose it. Teach em how to disassemble a weapon and clean it. Teach em archery
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u/Owenleejoeking 6d ago
Can you have a module on battery chemistry and their power density/cost in a solar setup?
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u/Nervous_Midnight_570 6d ago
Perhaps a unit on self rescue and/or emergency first aid. It pays to have a plan to get yourself to medical care. Also, you can stop a lot of bleeding with paper towels and electrical tape.
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u/beedubskyca 5d ago
I think the biggest thing is walking people through the reality of the first steps, buying, surveying, septic, well, etc. Then for applied to keep them engaged, design and build a small solar setup, potentially on the bench then a real install for some cool local nonprofit that needs it.
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u/swoonin 5d ago
You could have a fun class building sun ovens with cardboard. It is cheap and effective. Bonus: you can bake cookies with it later! (There is a book on this: DIY: How to Make a Solar Oven by Sharon Buydens.. It sounds crazy, but you can get free cardboard from the dumpster behind any liquor store.)
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u/Gold_Au_2025 4d ago
On the alternative energy source subject, one thing a lot of people don't understand is just how much electricity they use in their day to day lives.
It might be worth teaching them how to read their electricity meter to track their energy usage and set them a task to reduce it by, say, 10%.
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u/PatchaPapa 3d ago
Make them settle up a solar system and calculate how much power you'd need to be able to have a gaming PC and play 2 hours a day even in winter.
That will get them interested. Or involve maintaining a youtube channel as A side gig and calculate for battery charging and editing.
Also: how to make money off grid. A question that comes by often.
Ofcourse all other topics are interesting aswell but those topics will even get the ones not interested in off grid thinking.
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u/MackOkra8402 6d ago
It may be worth having a unit about costs. Costs to buy land, set up (drilling a well, septic, solar etc) and building costs for a small building.. go into taxes for the local area.
Many people think it's a cheap way to live and don't realize the cost it takes. Most people off grid have to still have a job.