Sequoyah Elementary Students Get a Lesson In Renewable Energy

May 14th, 2013

A goal of CURENT is to better integrate renewable energy into the grid, and that includes solar power. The center took that message to Sequoyah Elementary School and gave 70 fifth grade students a fun lesson in solar energy.

The science classes listened to a brief presentation on solar energy from UT graduate student Terence Randall. Afterwards, they got to work building their own solar-powered cars. Students were given basic instructions, but they were encouraged to test and reconfigure their cars to their personal specifications. Luckily, the sun was shining bright and the group was able to put their designs to the test in test drives and head-to-head races.

The class activity was organized by Erin McCollum of Sequoyah Elementary and Adam Hardebeck of CURENT. Randall, along with CURENT Ambassador Candice Patton also helped facilitate the projects. This outreach activity aligns with CURENT's initiative of exposing students to engineering and STEM-related fields from an early age, with the goal of creating a larger and more diverse generation of engineers. 

Read more about CURENT's Pre-College Education & Outreach Program here