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 High schools struggle to get and keep students engaged in the
study of science, while
industry struggles to attract employees with advanced technical
skills. As construction
trades and science teachers, we see a great opportunity to combine
the growing
national interest in renewable energy with lab science and hands-on
skills to provide a
truly integrated, contextual curriculum to engage students.
Even here locally we are expanding our energy sources through
increased Windmill Energy, Geo-Thermal and Solar Energy. All of
these fields are creating new career opportunities for people in
Logan County and surrounding areas.
Recently during the presidential debates, an important topic
discussed was “Renewable Energy, Alternative Energy” and decreasing
our country’s need for energy dependence with other countries.
 I have found some great curriculum that other high schools are
doing, and have also been in discussion with Randy Jacobs, who
teaches a Renewable Energy class at Heartland Community College.
Illinois State University is also reaching out to local high school
students for different contests and even scholarships that they are
offering.
I also see an opportunity to potentially use our Building Trades
class to use Renewable Energy and use these classes as
cross-curricular and intertwine their projects. Possibly we could do
a small unit on Solar Energy in the Renewable Energy class, and then
install a solar roof vent fan on the Building Trades house project
for the semester.
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 Even the use of Smart phones and technology has increased with
the energy careers and how they implement technology into each
field.
The 6 units I am currently looking at implementing in this
curriculum are:
- Energy Science, Fossil Fuels & Climate Change
- Exploring Home Energy Use & Conservation
- Building Energy Efficiency
- Solar Energy
- Wind Energy
- Geothermal Energy
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