During the week of February 8th, 2021,โฏ19โฏteachers from tenโฏCentral and Eastern Washington school districts attended aโฏthree-dayโฏonline workshop,โฏSolutions Oriented Learning Storylines:โฏRenewable Energy-Solar, with Pacific Education InstituteโsโฏFieldSTEMโฏCoordinator Megan Rivard and PEI Faculty Michelle Townshend along withโฏlocal community partners.
To begin the workshopโฏseries,โฏMeganโฏacknowledged the land thatโฏsheโฏresidesโฏon.โฏThe participants laterโฏcompletedโฏan asynchronous activityโฏto learn more aboutโฏtheir local tribalโฏnationsโฏandโฏthe actionable steps to incorporate tribal history and perspectivesโฏin their classrooms.โฏโฏDuring the first session, participantsโฏexperienced an outdoor phenomena activity to demonstrate the relationship between the sun, atmosphere, and thermal energy. After their trip outside, participants heard a presentation from Dave Hodges, educator and passive solar homeowner and builder. Hodges described the various considerations in building a passive solar home, and the many struggles with code and regulation which do not exactly favor passive solar design.
The second session introduced participants toโฏthe idea of the sunโs energy as abundance; this is a connection used throughout the storylines. Participants then learned about active solar energy capture by using their smartphone and a light meter app to explore ambient light in their respective spaces, and then met in small groups to discuss the use of this tool with their students to explore why placement of solar panels and windows matter. Michael Townshend (Townshend Cellar) and TylerโฏDornquastโฏ(Avista) spoke to participants about solar energy projects on an individual business and industrial scale, respectively, and participants were able to learn more about grants and programs available to assist in residential and business solar energy project financing.
TylerโฏDornquast presenting about solar energy projects in Washington.
In the last session, educators played โGoosechase,โ an interactive scavenger hunt that can be done from any geographic location. Participants play on teams and earn points by completing facilitator curated solar energy missions around the participants’ own home or school. Participants shared their passive solar home designs and worked together for reflection on the storyline and implementation troubleshooting using Jamboard. PEI will beโฏpublishingโฏtheโฏRenewable Energy: Solarโฏstorylines on theโฏClimeTimeโฏOpen Educational Resource portal and on our website in June 2021.
4th grade team planning using Jamboard
