Renewable Energy Education in Albemarle
Our team goals for this project were to work with Western Albemarle High School students to teach them about renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. We were approached by the Virginia Center for Wind Energy to help increase the education of students about wind energy due to the turbine and solar energy being installed at Henley Middle School. Our main goal was to teach the students about renewable energy and to inspire them to learn more and make a push for increased implementation of these methods in the future. We also wanted to bring learning that would connect with the classroom and overlap with the Standards of Learning for the students.
Renewable Energy, Education, Albemarle, high school, sustainability, curriculum, wind, solar, students, Kelsey Dickman, Shayna Stern, Devon Thompson, John Ward
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Renewable Energy Education in Albemarle

AlbemarleHighSchoolsEducation (click PDF)

Fall 2011

Team members: Kelsey Dickman, Shayna Stern, Devon Thompson, John Ward

Our team goals for this project were to work with Western Albemarle High School students to teach them about renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. We were approached by the Virginia Center for Wind Energy to help increase the education of students about wind energy due to the turbine and solar energy being installed at Henley Middle School. Our main goal was to teach the students about renewable energy and to inspire them to learn more and make a push for increased implementation of these methods in the future. We also wanted to bring learning that would connect with the classroom and overlap with the Standards of Learning for the students.

We met with physics students over two days at Western Albemarle High School to teach them about renewable energy and the project at Henley. We used a wind turbine blade design activity in order to provide an interactive and thought-provoking activity. The activity also helped to grab their attention and get them invested in the rest of our course materials. Each group also had to explain their design to the class and why they thought it would produce the most energy. We did a solar panel demonstration to show how the seasons affect the energy that is transmitted by the sun. Finally, we ended the class with a PowerPoint presentation to give them some more information about wind and solar energy as well as discuss the project at Henley Middle School. We finished the class with questions and discussion about renewable energy.

We met with 144 students in two days to help introduce them to renewable energy. The students were very receptive and seemed to take a lot away from the activity and the presentation. The teacher was very happy with the activity as well, she saw many great things she could continue as well as how well the students reacted to the issues and learning process. She also saw many areas where she can relate future coursework back to our activity. We helped the students to become more interested in renewable energy and to learn more about some of the main reasons to push for these technologies in the future. We hope that we inspired some students to pursue career paths that relate to wind, solar, and other renewable energy technologies.

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