In July of 2015, 19 educators from across the country gathered to learn about sustainable energy at a four-day workshop hosted by Iowa State University (ISU) in Ames, Iowa. ISU, in conjunction with ATEEC, provided teachers with hands-on workshop activities in the fields of wind energy, solar power, and biodiesel production.
One year later, two of the attendees of the 2015 workshop passed on what they learned to other educators.
On June 27, 2016, Betsy Becker and Dale Gruis conducted the same train-the-trainer activities that they learned last year. After a brief welcome and introduction, Betsy Becker presented information about wind power use in agriculture, using videos to provide context, and then demonstrated the hands-on wind turbine project to the group. Ms. Becker explained the process of the wind turbine kit experiment and how she used it in her classes.
Dale Gruis then demonstrated solar power in agriculture, also using video resources to provide context before demonstrating the solar panel experiment from the 2015 workshop. Mr. Gruis then related how the solar panel experiment (involving a water pump) could be adapted for a variety of experiments and projects.
Over two sessions, 25 educators got to see the experiments in action. They then broke into small groups and discussed how they could incorporate the experiments into their specific classrooms. Each group then reported back to the other groups, allowing for questions and feedback.