Introduction to Renewable Energy Technology: A Year Long Science & Technology Course

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. Renewable energy provides a political, economic and technical framework for the study of scientific concepts and methodology.Renewable energy utilization rests on the development of advanced technical skills: engineering research and design; electrical power production, transmission and utilization; manufacturing; transportation modeling; urban planning and design among others.The translating of scientific concepts into working physical models offersunparalleled opportunities for students to practice creative and critical thinking, and to problem-solve in a tangible context.