Juice from Juice is a program born from the Center for Chemical Innovation in Solar Fuels (or CCI Solar). The first lessons were developed in 2008 by postdoc researchers at the center as a way to bring current solar energy research into the classroom. The main lesson is building a dye-sensitized solar cell, or DSSC, using blackberry juice as dye. Hence the name “juice” (electricity) from “juice” (fruit).
Originally Juice from Juice was offered as a professional development workshop at Caltech in Pasadena for local teachers. Teachers received lesson plans, hands-on training in the experiment, and a kit with necessary supplies. As the project became more popular, distribution of supplies kits by CCI Solar became unsustainable. CCI Solar partnered with educational company Arbor Scientific to offer the kits and resources to teachers online. This had the added benefit of bringing the Juice from Juice program to teachers around the world instead of just those local to Caltech.
Since its inception, the program has grown to include three more lessons on related science topics including electrochemistry, water-splitting and the physics of light. These kits and associated lesson plans are also available through Arbor Scientific. Taught in conjunction with the DSSC lesson, these three additional lessons and two new pre-labs offer a broader perspective on the science behind solar energy and provide flexibility for the Juice from Juice program to complement your curriculum. All lessons are NGSS aligned and divided into three levels for 4-5 grades, middle school and high school.
While workshops are still offered a few times per year in Pasadena and at various educational conferences, the kits’ online presence is the main way for teachers to get involved in Juice from Juice. Please use all of the resources on this site including the lesson plans, instructional videos, related scientific articles and workshop powerpoint presentation to make your lessons the best they can be. If you need any additional information do not hesitate to contact us here.