The Science House - FREEDM Pre-College

Teachers Receive National Science Foundation Honor
8/31/10

Ms. Rickard explores chemoluminescence.

Mr. Brown and Ms. Rickard visit the College of Textiles.

Mr. Ewbank assists a Young Scholar with soldering.

Four Alamance-Burlington teachers recently received the honor of being chosen for the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at NC State University’s FREEDM Systems Center. Melaine Rickard, Turrentine Middle School, Michael Brown, Jr., Woodlawn Middle School, and Brian Ewbank and Jeff Faulkner, Eastern Alamance High School visited the engineering laboratories on the NC State campus from June 15 through July 15. This program supports the active involvement of middle and high school teachers in engineering research in order to bring knowledge of engineering and technological innovation into their classrooms. This program, led by the Center’s precollege coordinator, Dr. Lisa Grable, is a partnership with the Alamance Burlington School System (ABSS). The teachers experienced ways to teach science, mathematics, and engineering concepts through hands-on experiments and field trips. Topics included the electric power grid and renewable energy. Teachers spent time collaborating with researchers at NC State working on issues such as improving batteries, using solar power, and communication on the power grid. RET teachers will be implementing new lesson plans with their students this school year.

The RET program will be available again to ABSS middle and high school teachers in June 2011. The application process will begin in January 2011, through The Science House FREEDM website (http://www.science-house.org/freedm).

Alamance Young Scholars Research the Future Electric Grid
8/31/10

Young Scholars and teachers visit the Constructed Facilities Laboratory.

Dr. Alex Huang, FREEDM director, meets with Young Scholars and teachers.

Young Scholars and teachers visit Progress Energy control center.

Graduate students inspect Eco-Car with Young Scholars.

Seven Alamance-Burlington high school students took a break from the pool, texting and Facebook to participate in NC State University’s FREEDM Systems Center Young Scholars program. From June 15 through July 15 the students traveled to the NC State campus to join university teams researching the future of the delivery and management of electricity. The Young Scholars program is designed to give students a headstart on college readiness, especially in engineering, science, mathematics, and technology. The students visited industry sites including the Harris nuclear plant, the coal-fired plant in Chapel Hill, and MegaWatt Solar in Hillsborough. They also worked with faculty and graduate students in research labs at NC State and built circuits, solar powered robots, and wind turbines. The students met with university admissions to prepare their college applications.

This program, led by FREEDM's precollege coordinator, Dr. Lisa Grable, is a partnership with the Alamance Burlington School System (ABSS). These students join 2009 Young Scholars Alex Walker, Nick Walker, Aleana Justice, and Kevin Claybren in this National Science Foundation honor.

Eastern Alamance High School: Lauren Casey,Kendra Fuller, and Sierra Lee
Graham High School: Gabriela Fuentevilla, Ashley Lowe, and Jorge Pacheco
Western Alamance High School: Andrea Irving

The Young Scholars program will be available again to ABSS high school sophomores and juniors in June 2011. The application process will begin in January 2011, through The Science House FREEDM website (http://www.science-house.org/freedm).

Alamance-Burlington Students Investigate Green Power
8/11/10

Mr. Jamie Defelice (Principal) and Mr. Daniel Camp (Assistant Principal) of Graham High School in Graham, NC welcomed five visitors from NC State University’s FREEDM Systems Center from July 26 – 29th for a Renewable Energy Camp for students in grades 6 through 9. This camp, led by the Center’s precollege coordinator, Dr. Lisa Grable, served 19 students from the Alamance Burlington School System (ABSS). The students experienced learning science and engineering concepts by hands-on experiments, presentations, and art projects. Topics included renewable and non-renewable energy sources, photoelectric effect, solar powered robots (pictured here racing solar frogs built by the students), solar panels and daily science-based presentations by students and staff. A field trip to NC State’s campus, The Science House of NC State, Harris Nuclear Facility and the LEED McDonald’s in Cary, NC encompassed the camp highlights. Special thanks go to members of the ABSS for physical and administrative support during this process.

The camp will be available again to ABSS students in late July 2011. The application process will begin in January 2011, through The Science House FREEDM website.

Students at The Hawbridge School Collaborate with
FREEDM Expert Classroom Visitors
8/6/10

Students in Dr. Johnson’s and Mr. Spetzler’s classes at The Hawbridge School welcomed visitors from NC State University’s FREEDM Systems Center Expert Classroom Visitor Program on April 9, 2010. Visitors included five enthusiastic graduate students (Aaron Curry, Daniel Fregosi, Ghazal Falahi, Phillip Funderburk, and Rohit Rajesekharan --pictured above) from NC State University, and the Center's precollege coordinator, Dr. Lisa Grable. Students from The Hawbridge School were able to experience a variety of experiments at seven different stations during the event. Some stations involved assembling circuits, investigating wind turbines, and even using an apple as a battery. Special thanks goes to NSF Young Scholar, Aleana J. (pictured right) for inviting Dr. Grable to visit her school. Aleana plans to attend NC State starting in the Fall of 2010.

About The Science House
The Science House, an outreach center of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at NC State University, is a national model for the interaction of university science departments and K-12 students and teachers. The Science House has been providing teacher professional development and programming for students in science, mathematics, engineering and technology since 1991. The precollege program for the FREEDM Systems Center is a collaboration between The Science House, the Center for Integrating Research and Learning at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University, and the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University.

About the FREEDM Center
The FREEDM Systems Center conducts research in the area of green energy and the “smart grid,” including topics such as plug-in cars, rechargeable batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines. The Center began in the fall of 2008 with funding from the National Science Foundation (award number EEC- 0812121). This Engineering Research Center consists of seven universities, with the headquarters at NC State University. More information can be found at freedm.ncsu.edu.

About The Hawbridge School
The Hawbridge School is a free public high school in Saxapahaw, North Carolina. Highly accredited faculty teach students an enriched curriculum in Environmental Studies and the Arts with a focus on environmental stewardship and ethics. More information can be found at www.thehawbridgeschool.org

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Helps Kids Learn About Green Energy
3/25/10

Seventeen hundred middle school students, plus teachers and staff attended the Alamance-Burlington School System's 8th Grade Career Pathway Day on March 10, 2010.

The event was held at the Mebane Arts and Community Center and included representatives from businesses and schools. Dr. Lisa Grable and graduate student Phillip Funderburk represented NC State University’s FREEDM Systems Center and The Science House. FREEDM and The Science House brought both a display of renewable energy hands-on activities and opportunities for summer academic programs. More information on summer programs can be accessed from the FREEDM precollege website.

Funderburk showed students a Toyota Prius upfitted with a high capacity lithium ion battery pack. The car is able to use the energy from the additional battery pack to drive for 30 miles without needing gas. Students were surprised to learn that the representatives drove the Toyota Prius from Raleigh to the career fair averaging 99 miles/gallon!

The FREEDM Systems Center participation in the event is part of the outreach program being developed by graduate students conducting research in the Center.

Videos Present Who, What and Why of Renewable Energy Research
2/25/10

A new series of videos from The Science House at NC State University will help students in grades 6-12 and their teachers understand how to get more involved in the future of energy generation, consumption and conservation.

The three videos are available through YouTube and iTunes University and can be accessed from The Science House Web site.

“What is FREEDM?” gives an overview of the work being done at NC State’s FREEDM (Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems) Center, which seeks to revolutionize the nation’s power grid and adapt renewable energy technologies to broad home and commercial use.

“Who is FREEDM?” highlights some of the individual undergraduate and graduate students who are studying the different aspects our energy future.

“Why FREEDM?” helps students understand the importance of generating and storing renewable energy sources as in solar panels, wind turbines, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

According to Lisa Grable, Precollege Outreach Coordinator for the FREEDM Systems Center, these videos can help teachers to introduce energy concepts in the classroom. Students and teachers from the Alamance-Burlington School System have the opportunity to participate in FREEDM programs during the summer of 2010.

The videos were produced by Velasquez Media in Durham, NC, and are part of The Science House library of Internet videos, used by viewers all over the world.

DOE STEAB visits FREEDM Systems Center
12/1/09

A Congressionally appointed board of energy advisors toured the FREEDM Systems Center to learn about its programs during its meetings at North Carolina State University Nov. 9-11.

The State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB) toured parts of the center as part of the STEAB Conference and learned about the center’s industry, innovation and education programs. The group also heard from researchers and graduate students about their transportation system work. Research posters from graduate students and REUs were presented at an evening reception.

Advanced Energy, one of FREEDM's industry partners, hosted a seminar and tour of the Envision Center, a joint project of Advanced Energy and Duke Power, another FREEDM industry partner.

STEAB members are appointed by Congress and advise the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This was the group’s first meeting held on a land-grant university campus; the FREEDM Systems Center was a major part of its visit.

For additional information, please contact the FREEDM Systems Center Pre-college Outreach Coordinator, Dr. Lisa Grable (grable at ncsu.edu) or Dr. Mark Johnson, Director of Industry and Innovation Programs.

For information about STEAB: http://www.steab.org/index.htm. Information about the US Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov/.