Funding Awarded: $76,500

INDUSTRY PARTNERS:

Otter Tail Ag Enterprises

Key Partners:

MN State Community & Technical College, North Dakota State College of Science, Rural MN CEP

Project Summary:

In Moorhead, middle school and high school teachers will learn about bio-fermenters for ethanol production, photo-bioreactors for algae propagation, gas and liquid chromatography for biofuels analysis, and biodiesel from waste oil. High school students are also getting first-hand experience with alternative & renewable energy technologies through a partnership with Minnesota State Community and Technical College, North Dakota State College of Science, and the Otter Tail Ag Enterprises ethanol plant.

Project Outcomes:

• 90 educators prepared for instruction in renewable energy industries, who will train approximately 1,600 students annually
• 21 renewable energy teaching kits purchased for teacher/school lending library, projected to impact 1,600 students annually
• 3,900 youth introduced or participated in renewable energy projects/activities

Project Description:

Outreach by two local community colleges is bringing renewable energy and alternative energy concepts to high school & middle school students in the Fargo-Moorhead and Fergus Falls area. It involves training for teachers about renewable energy, providing interactive kits, and working with students in classrooms.

This project was developed upon the recommendation of the NDSCS/MSCTC Biofuels Technology Program Advisory Board, which has representation from 8 biofuels companies, including Otter Tail Ag Enterprises. These companies feel that outreach programs such as these are critical to the economic development and success of the alternative energy and emerging technology areas of industry in this region.

More than 800 students and another 30+ teachers have benefited from the renewable energy outreach education and alternative energy interactive kits provided by the project.

"By the end of our project, we will have reached more than 2,000 students who will have all had handson experience," said Carrie Leopold, Outreach Coordinator for North Dakota State College of Science at Wahpeton. The interactive kits teach kids how to build a wind turbine, how solar energy can power a light bulb, and how to build a robotic car.

Experiential learning is powerful for both students and adults. Maria Hanson, STEM Coordinator for the Lakes Country Service Cooperative explains, "For some students, hands-on is the only way they can learn, so it reaches some students that couldn't have been reached otherwise."

Teachers also got to work directly with high-end equipment used in less typical aspects of renewable energy including nanotechnology, lithography on silicon wafers, and using an electron microscope.

Kristi Jean, PhD, who teaches for both Minnesota State Community and Technical College and North Dakota State College of Science at Wahpeton described the teachers' reaction, "From the very moment that we started at 8:00am, the teachers were engaged, they were dynamic, and the learning started right away. We have a facility where we have nanofabrication equipment to make solar cells. We have analysis tools. And, we have hands-on experiments that can be brought into the classroom."

Nanotechnology, specifically, is important to how many types of renewable energy are generated. "We know that these concepts will be used in biofuels including biodiesel & ethanol, and solar technology," said Provost Jerry Migler, PhD, Minnesota State Community & Technical College in Moorhead. "The ability to create an awareness of how alternative energy and nanotechnology fit together will have positive, long-term effects for all of those industries."