TJ Solar Schools Grant Creates Array of Learning Possibilities
A proposal prepared by Thomas Jefferson High School Science Teacher Shawn Timulak has received a Solar Schools Grant worth up to $25,000 from Puget Sound Energy. The grant will pay for a solar photovoltaic (PV) array and related power generation equipment and installation at the school. The array will provide a “keystone curriculum piece” for TJ’s students and the community, Timulak says, and also will feed back into the power grid, earning TJ energy credits.
The solar demonstration project will allow students to learn firsthand about renewable energy technologies, as well as provide a basis for classroom curriculum ranging from science and mathematics to the humanities. TJ’s proposal is a detailed plan for implementing the equipment into the school's physical science, physics, and earth science curriculum, with an emphasis on continuous integration. Curricular activities will be aligned with state EARL/GLEs.
At its most simplistic level, the curriculum calls for data generated by the equipment to be accessible to the students via the Internet, allowing them to analyze and publish it. But the learning activities that arise from having the equipment are far more sophisticated than simply charting data.
An overarching goal of the Solar Schools Project (SSP) at TJHS is to increase awareness among students and the community of our culture’s energy dependence and the future viability of different energy resources. Students will learn about the connections between their daily decisions and the Earth's resources, the principles behind the production of electricity via PV cells system components of working solar arrays, and environmental factors that impact solar power production.
They’ll also develop an understanding of the renewable energy markets and regional and state government incentives for conservation and renewable energy. The plan calls for students in Freshman Physical Science, Physics, Earth Sciences and even Marketing to participate in curricular activities related to the solar installation.
Another aspect of the plan calls for kiosks showing the real-time data from the solar array to be placed in the community to raise the public’s awareness.
Teacher and project champion Shawn Timulak is passionate about renewable energy and energy conservation, and plans to bring that commitment to his students and the community with the PSE grant.
Thomas Jefferson is one of five local schools to receive a piece of the $100,000 in grants announced April 23 by Puget Sound Energy. Each school received up to $25,000. See the TJ Solar Schools Proposal (25K PDF).
April 24, 2008