This blog post is way overdue, but better late than never. Last fall semester at Sonoma Academy I was lucky enough to be teaching Intro. to Engineering for the fourth time. Every time I teach this class I try to introduce new projects that the students will be interested in and benefit from. This year a friend, Tor Rahus, who runs the Solar School House, turned me onto the idea of doing solar projects.
At first we followed a set of directions he provided to make solar notebook charges. These were basically binders that you could open up in the sun, which through photovolteics would charge something that could be hooked up to a usb outlet, like a cellphone. These were great but besides using them on a backpacking trips or perhaps keeping them in an emergency preparedness kit, we couldn't really see any practical use for them.
Then we brainstormed and came up with the idea of creating a cellphone charging station using the same technology, but now we would have a permanent portable station at Sonoma Academy where students could hook up and leave their phone (say during lunch) on a sunny day and come back with it charged.
And so we got to work embracing the Engineering Design Process.
What we came up with included two solar panels put on top of an old push cart...
four private, but not locking cubbies for your cellphone ...
three different types of cable tips for androids, old iphones and new iphones ...
directions for use created by our very own laser cutter ...
some basic info. on solar (also laser cut) ...
and a fancy (laser cut) sign indicating to the passerby what this is.
This was one of the most significant projects I have had the opportunity to do with students in my six years of teaching. Not only was it about an important theme - sustainability - but the students really took over the project. They did their share of the work and even did work that wasn't even asked of them. I played the role of a coordinator and parts supplier, while I stepped back to watch these students create an awesome and still-in-use prototype.
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