SHERRIE TAYLOR/The Register-MailAlWood teacher Cassie Hanson wrote the grant that paid for the solar panels installed atop AlWood Middle School as part of a solar energy study project.
Grant sheds light on energy studies
AlWood students learn about solar power, conservation
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Woodhull - The AlWood School District has been approved for a $10,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.The grant is for the installation of a single 1kw photovoltaic system in the school.
The solar panels are in place on the roof of the middle school in Woodhull.
The panels face the south to absorb sunlight the entire day, and energy from the system will be documented and studied by AlWood Middle School students.
The middle school science teacher teaches a unit about energy to eighth-grade students who study the definition of energy, energy conversion, conservation of energy and energy resources, including solar energy.
In seventh grade, the students study Astronomy including a chapter on the formation of the solar system with discussions about the sun and the sun's energy.
Sixth-graders will study life sciences including the food chain, which starts with solar energy.
As a kick-off for the grant and installation of the panels, the students had a "Solar Celebration" to share information about the panels, and the data system with other students, Hanson said.
Brooke Bainbridge is the middle school teacher supervising the study of the system and the grantee commits to teaching about solar energy in the classroom, as well as educating the community about the benefits of solar energy.
The grantee also agrees to implement online monitoring of real time data on the PV system electricity generation.
The foundation believes it is important for organizations and individuals in Illinois to learn about the project and the ways it benefits the public.
Cassie Hanson, AlWood special education coordinator and administrative intern, wrote the grant for the district.
By the end of the 2006-07 school year, the middle school students will demonstrate their knowledge of the benefits of solar energy as a renewable resource through completion of a cross-curricular unit on solar energy.
They will participate in an expanded solar energy science curriculum and write and publish an article for the school newsletter, including information they learned about renewable energy.
In addition, the students will make graphs using a real-time data monitoring system to track solar production and will write a one page essay to compare the types of energy used in the United States with the types of energy used in other countries.
Finally, students will present information learned to students in surrounding Henry County area schools.
