Five Days at Recharge Academy

Question. What do you get when you take 25 like minded teachers with an interest in bringing more renewable energy education into their classrooms from all over the country together with Mike, Asia and Thai (the instructors/leaders) for five days in a REcharge Lab?

They take risks. They spend time and energy daring to try things that most people do not. They gain experiences that make them teachers that are more knowledgable about all aspects of renewable energy for lessons and hands on activities that can be brought into the classroom.

This years 2017 Recharge Lab was held at the Powerhouse campus at Colorado State University.

This is a whole building dedicated to all things related to renewable energy and the world. From new and improved energy sources to the better management and conservation of them.

From hands on activities including but not limited to - MacGyver - Engineering design challenge to lift weights with wind - Wind Tunnel - Turbine blade design - Sail Cars - wind and distance - Solar Rover - PV variables, power storage and traction - Solar Water Pump - PV PSI for height - Sighting wind turbines and farms - Solar house building activity - Building a Power Grid - Offshore Wind generator platforms. More information and details about these and more can be found by visiting the Kid Wind site http://www.kidwind.org

Designing blades and then putting them to a load test for operational output.

Whoops, back to the drawing board.

Maybe try your hand at designing and building an offshore platform for a wind generator.

And then there were the field trips to the Vestas blade factory in Windsor, CO (sorry no pictures allowed in the factory). However, I can tell you that the 25 of us saw and learned things that very few teachers get to see and learn about to bring back to the classroom.

We also spent a day at the National Energy Research Laboratory (NERL) this federal government sight is at the center of testing and developing all forms of renewable energy. Participants got to listen and ask questions about various project studies past and present. We got to visit the laboratories where the testing was taking place and see the activities, from wind blade building to dyno testing.

Wind generators today are BIG Stuff and needs to be a much bigger deal in todays classrooms.

I feel to do that teachers, students and parents need to get up close and personal with it. The saying goes, "I hear it I forget. I see it I remember. I do it I understand."

And the closer you get to it the more you see and learn. The folks from Kid Wind really did the job at the 2017 Recharge Academy check them out.

Think about it in the United States we use the most energy in the world, we should know the most about it, period.