An Interactive K-12 Engineering Curriculum Development on Renewable Sources and Energy Storage and in Power Systems

Jana Sebestik; Quanyan Zhu

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: K-12 Experiences in Energy Education
Tagged Division: Energy Conversion and Conservation
Page Count: 11
Page Numbers: 25.171.1 - 25.171.11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--20931
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/20931
Download Count: 299

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Paper Authors

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Jana Sebestik University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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Jana Sebestik received a B.S. in mathematics and M.Ed. in mathematics education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has 34 years of classroom experience teaching mathematics in grades 7-12. She is currently a curriculum specialist at the Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (MSTE) in the College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Education Lead for Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for the Power Grid (TCIPG). MSTE works with mathematics and science teachers to integrate technology into K-12 classrooms. TCIPG is addressing the challenge of how to protect the nation's power grid by significantly improving the way the power grid infrastructure is built, making it more secure, reliable, and safe.

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Quanyan Zhu University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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Quanyan Zhu is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL) at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), working with Prof. Tamer Bacsar at the Information Trust Institute (ITI). He has received his master's and bachelor's degrees from University of Toronto and McGill University, respectively and both in electrical engineering. He has been a visiting researcher at University of Waterloo, University of Avignon, University of Houston, INRIA-Sophia Antipolis, Idaho National Laboratory and SUPELEC. He is interested in problems at the interface of the cyber and physical worlds and uses tools such as optimal/stochastic control, reinforcement learning, statistical mechanics and game theory to deal with security and resilience issues in communication networks, biological systems, smart grids, and control systems. He is the author of the book "Game-Theoretical Modeling of WDM Optical Networks: Design, Analysis and Algorithms." He is a recipient of NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship, University of Toronto Fellowship, Ernest A. Reid Fellowship, and Mavis Future Faculty Fellowships.

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Abstract

An Interactive K-12 Engineering Curriculum Development on Renewable Sources and Energy Storage and in Power SystemsThe success of modernization of the U.S. electrical grid depends on research,engineering, and policy, but also, on the education and acceptance of electricityconsumers. In this paper, we introduce our work in K-12 power engineering educationfocusing on fundamental concepts related to renewable resources and energy storage. Thecurriculum aims to provide information about the importance and workings of currentand future electricity generation and delivery systems and to engage students who maypursue careers in related industries.New sets of interactive lessons in wind and storage have been developed to introduceconcepts such as the benefits of combining energy storage with wind generation and theeffects of changes in consumption patterns. A simulation system (see Fig. 1) has beendeveloped to help students understand some of the complexities inherent in running thepower grid of the future. The lessons cover a variety of topics related to the interaction ofwind, storage, and transmission; for example, the dependence of demand profile oncustomer types, significant effect of wind on the system costs and CO2 emissions, theimpact of storage on transmission capacity of renewable energies, etc.The course materials have been used successfully in classrooms and in community eventsthroughout the nation. During the past year, there were over 24,000 visits to the websitesassociated with the curriculum. Teachers from several states have adopted the materialsfor their classes. Power utilities and environmental groups are also interested in ourmaterials for customer education. The free accessibility of the materials is a key aspect ofthis work.This paper describes a detailed description of the development of middle school levelcurriculum materials related to renewable energy resources and electricity storage. Itprovides examples of the materials and discusses the major engineering conceptsassociated with them. We also discuss our continuing efforts to disseminate thesematerials to educators around the world and future plans for both development anddissemination.Fig. 1 Simulation environment for wind and storage interactive lessons.

Citation
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Sebestik, J., & Zhu, Q. (2012, June), An Interactive K-12 Engineering Curriculum Development on Renewable Sources and Energy Storage and in Power Systems Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--20931

TY - CPAPER
AB - An Interactive K-12 Engineering Curriculum Development on Renewable Sources and Energy Storage and in Power SystemsThe success of modernization of the U.S. electrical grid depends on research,engineering, and policy, but also, on the education and acceptance of electricityconsumers. In this paper, we introduce our work in K-12 power engineering educationfocusing on fundamental concepts related to renewable resources and energy storage. Thecurriculum aims to provide information about the importance and workings of currentand future electricity generation and delivery systems and to engage students who maypursue careers in related industries.New sets of interactive lessons in wind and storage have been developed to introduceconcepts such as the benefits of combining energy storage with wind generation and theeffects of changes in consumption patterns. A simulation system (see Fig. 1) has beendeveloped to help students understand some of the complexities inherent in running thepower grid of the future. The lessons cover a variety of topics related to the interaction ofwind, storage, and transmission; for example, the dependence of demand profile oncustomer types, significant effect of wind on the system costs and CO2 emissions, theimpact of storage on transmission capacity of renewable energies, etc.The course materials have been used successfully in classrooms and in community eventsthroughout the nation. During the past year, there were over 24,000 visits to the websitesassociated with the curriculum. Teachers from several states have adopted the materialsfor their classes. Power utilities and environmental groups are also interested in ourmaterials for customer education. The free accessibility of the materials is a key aspect ofthis work.This paper describes a detailed description of the development of middle school levelcurriculum materials related to renewable energy resources and electricity storage. Itprovides examples of the materials and discusses the major engineering conceptsassociated with them. We also discuss our continuing efforts to disseminate thesematerials to educators around the world and future plans for both development anddissemination.Fig. 1 Simulation environment for wind and storage interactive lessons.
AU - Jana Sebestik
AU - Quanyan Zhu
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2012/06/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - An Interactive K-12 Engineering Curriculum Development on Renewable Sources and Energy Storage and in Power Systems
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/20931
DO - 10.18260/1-2--20931
ER -