Illustrations rendered in pencil, followed by line work in ink; it was then scanned into the computer and colored in Photoshop.

Includes bibliographical references, and index.

Welcome to Birch Elementary -- Buried treasure -- The origins of the Energy League -- School life in 1900 -- Not just a science fair, a future fair! -- Time capsule #1: the Global Seed Vault -- What is energy? -- Team electricity -- Time capsule #2: the Terracotta Warriors -- Team plumbing -- Time capsule #3: the wreck of the Titanic -- Team buildings -- Time capsule #4: Voyager golden records -- Team transportation -- Time capsule #5: Scott's hut -- What is our legacy? -- Birch Elementary Public School, 2125 -- Create your own time capsule.

"A century-old time capsule inspires students to investigate how energy powered their school community in the past and predict how school life will be powered a hundred years in the future. Birch Elementary School is making some energy-efficient upgrades to its building. When workers find a mysterious metal box, it is unearthed and given to the graduating Grade 6 class. The students and their teacher are captivated by the time capsule inside, filled with letters from the year 1900 from the very first graduating class. Those students marvelled over the innovations in electricity, plumbing, buildings and transportation that were changing their school, neighbourhood and lives. The current class is inspired to envision what the future brings for those same subjects, as well as the energy required to make everything happen. They decide to research these topics for their science fair and make a time capsule for students one hundred years in the future. They wonder -- what will energy look like for them?"--