Energy Projects
Communicating ideas and solutions is an important part of engineering.Copyright 2008 Clarkson University, Potsdam NY
Students use what they learned about energy systems to create a project related to identifying and carrying out a personal change to reduce energy consumption. Ideally, the preliminary homework assignments should be interspersed throughout the unit so that the students stay focused on their ultimate culminating projects.
Through the engineering design process, numerous potential solutions are identified and the best option is chosen. This activity walks students through these steps with the ultimate goal that they recommend (or carry out, if possible) energy solutions, and communicate the solutions to others. Communication is an important, and often under-appreciated, skill of the engineering profession.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Identify personal decisions they can make to affect the current energy situation.
- Apply the problem solving method to real-life problems.
- Identify the key concepts to investigate in order to complete their projects.
- Apply the energy and math knowledge they learned in class to real-life problems.
- Communicate their ideas and new knowledge to their class or community.