Cabrillo College Summer Energy Academy Funded by a 5 year NSF STEP Grant. grant # DUE-0757114 (info at nsf.gov) The team: Dr. Susan Tappero, math (PI of.

Cabrillo College Summer Energy Academy

• Funded by a 5 year NSF STEP Grant.grant # DUE-0757114 (info at nsf.gov)

• The team: Dr. Susan Tappero, math (PI of the grant), Karen Groppi, (engr), John Welch (phys), and Luis Sonsino (CEM)

• Part of a larger program at Cabrillo called STEEP (Science Technology Engineering, Expanding Potential)- www.cabrillosteep.org

• More info (and this presentation) on my website: www.cabrillo.edu/~jwelch

• Contact me at [email protected].

Goals of the Energy Academy:• To increase the number of successful STEM majors at

Cabrillo College, especially from underrepresented groups.• To further an understanding of climate change and global

energy issues.• To help students gain a basic “energy literacy,” with a

focus on electricity and solar technology.• To give students a start toward careers in “green jobs.”• To give students a positive, hands-on intro to science,

engineering, and math.• To give students a “summer bridge” experience to help

them feel comfortable at the college.• To give students a community service experience.

Our Students:

• 24 Students – all registered for the Fall semester.

• Mostly recent high school graduates.

• Undeclared majors and motivated students preferred.

• Roughly 50% Female Students.

• 25 - 60% Latino Students.

• 6 TA’s – Junior level and above STEM majors.

The Class

• 4 hrs/day M-F for 4 weeks during summer.

• Students receive $1000 stipend (with perfect attendance).

• No college credits.

• Takes place in our physics lab.

Components of the Academy:

• Lessons on basics of energy and electricity• Educational Games• Hands-on projects and experiments.• Field Trips• Group Discussions • Journal keeping (data, discussion topics, notes)• Community Service• Internships

Lessons / Experiments - basic concepts

• What is energy (and power). Units.• Volts, Amps, Watts. Using multimeters.• Series and parallel circuits.• Energy storage methods.• Solar PV basics – short circuit current, open

circuit voltage, peak power

Bicycle Generator

Gives students a physical feel for what Watts are.

Shows that changing loads can be felt at the generation end.

Video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcJ97dwpQME

Light Bulb Box – all 12VDC

Inverter box with 22F capacitor and voltage regulator circuit

Model House Project

• After watching video of Solar Decathlon and visiting a local off-grid home, students are given 2 days to design and build model houses that include working PV with AA rechargeable batteries as storage.

• The houses need to incorporate passive solar design.

Building a Model House

Wind Generator Project

Students make wind generators and study the effects of several variables on power output, including: Blade length, blade pitch, number of blades, generator gearing.

Good practice in manipulating variables and recording data.

Gearbox Motor available at Edmund Scientific ($20) http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3039118&bhcd2=1248567029

Plastic corks used for hub. Welding rod pieces hot-glued to blade connect blade to hub.

Peak Oil Game

Jars full of black beans simulate oil fields. As time goes forward, extraction gets more difficult and technology improves. Students graph production for each “year” of the game.

Peak Oil Game Goals

- To get a feel for what ‘peak oil’ means and why it happens.

- To understand that ‘peak oil’ doesn’t mean the oil is all gone.

- To practice taking data and graphing it with Excel.

- To have fun working in groups (an “icebreaker”).

- (Game instructions on my website.)

Fun for Physics Teachers Too!

Oil Game Graph

0

200

400

600

800

1000

0 2 4 6 8 10

Year

Pro

du

ctio

n (

Gra

ms)

Discuss Results.

Compare student graphs with real-world graphs.

Electrical Grid Model/Game

Goals-- To understand that the grid lacks storage.- To understand the idea of an energy “mix” and

how it’s adjusted by utility companies.- To understand “peak demand” and why power

companies must respond to changing loads.- To see why the existing grid is not ideal for small

scale, local power generation.- To introduce the concept of a ‘smart grid.’

Last Year- a water model

Students representing various “Power sources” pour water into a tube, trying to keep water level (“voltage”) constant as consumers drain tube into reservoir at varying rates.

Instructor calls out changes such as “now it’s nighttime”, “now it’s winter”, and consumers respond. One student is designated as the “power manager” and directs the various power sources to increase or decrease production.

New this year – Electrical version of Grid Game

Students representing energy sources turn DC generators connected in parallel. Power manager directs the “energy mix” to keep a constant voltage as instructor varies load and other variables.

Grid Game crude schematic.

Sources and loads can be at different distances from the center, leading to a discussion on loss and local generation.

Extension Cord Project

After learning about the grid, students make extension cords to learn about AC wiring and to learn hands-on electrical skills.

Field Trips

• Local natural gas power plant.

• Off-grid solar home

• Grid tied solar home

• Landfill with a cogeneration facility.

Moss Landing Power Plant – natural gas

Visiting a local off-grid home.

Discussion/Journaling questions

• Students are given open ended questions to write and think about at home, to be discussed the next day.

• Journals are also used to record experimental data and class notes.

Some example discussion questions.

• How important will it be to reduce our population to get to a sustainable energy situation?

• What are the costs associated with our current energy use? Who pays them?

• Will science/technology alone be able to solve the world's energy problems?

• Someone tells you that a tank full of gasoline holds the same amount of energy as a person working 8 hours a day for 4 years. Do you believe them? Can you figure a way to check this?

Community Service Projects

Students prepare educational projects to take out and share with the community.

The final week of the Academy is devoted to these projects.

Projects have included:• Presentation to campus staff.

• Solar oven cookies around town.• Renewable Energy movie for “kids.”

(downloadable at www.cabrillosteep.org)• “Make and take” projects in elementary schools.• “Energy Fair” for the public at local town square.

Internships

• Last year we funded 6 interns to do an extensive energy audit on campus, in conjunction with Campus Facilities.

• We’re currently looking for placements in research labs, educational organizations, etc. Let us know if you have any connections!

Activity ideas for future years:

Energy Budget Activities

• Energy Budget spreadsheet activities developed by Pat Keefe and Greg Mulder. Students create future energy budgets and face the limitations of their choices.

• These are available at: http://www.oraapt.org/resources/energy

Salad Spinner Generator Project

Based on article by Timothy Moran in TPT, Jan 09.

Students make a generator using magnet wire, neodymium magnets, and a salad spinner.

Salad Spinner Generator Project

• After some preliminary discussion and tips, groups will tinker and see who can make the most peak power.

• Tools include LED’s, flashlight bulbs, O-scopes, multimeters.

• My generator produced ~¼ Watt, using 4 neodymium magnets and 4 coils in series.

Resources:• Cabrillo Energy Academy

– [email protected]/~jwelch

• NEED Curriculum, Workshops, and Supplies, Youth Awards Program– www.need.org

• Idaho National Lab Energy site– www.energyforeducators.org

• Energy Teachers– energyteachers.org

• 2011 INL Physics Teachers Workshop– Mostly nuclear for high school teachers