City Academy students build solar boats
City Academy students build solar boats
City Academy students build solar boats
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- On a perfect spring day at Phalen Lake, a group of students from City Academy charter school in Saint Paul launch their creation.
It's a fast-looking boat with a shark motif for good measure. What makes it exciting, though, is the solar panel that powers it.
"I picked this class because I like boats," said senior Bryan Bergersen. He learned a lot more than that, because the boats the students build are all solar-powered.
"They're getting some environmental science in terms of renewable resources, renewable energies, physical science in terms of the circuitry and hooking things up," said Nick Rice, who teaches science at City Academy. There's also a good deal of engineering involved as the students design and build their own boats.
Rice has teamed up with math teacher Alice Rivard to build a class centered around a solar boat regatta sponsored by the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society.
This year a dozen Minnesota schools participated in a student category, and an experimental category. "Learning about the solar, but also learning about green jobs of the future," said Doug Shoemaker, who is the liaison between the organization and the schools.
City Academy made an initial investment in the solar panels it uses. A citizen donated a motor. Rivard says students use tools the school already has, and plywood for the rest. "What we have now we can keep, we can use year after year," added Rivard.
In addition to the math and science the students employ, students also learn teamwork and strategy. It is, after all, a race. And in the end, the students at City Academy came up with a good combination, winning their race in the student category.
The Minnesota Renewable Energy Solar Boat Regatta is an annual event, open to middle school through college students. There is also an adult category.
(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All rights reserved.)