BBEP STEM Teachers Workshop

The day started out with a warm welcome from Michael Hall, President and CEO of Wings of Eagles Discovery Center. He reminded us that the Elmira and Ithaca area are flying capitals essentially. Many people from the area flew aircrafts or developed aircrafts or had companies. I wasn’t aware of this history of where I grew up, or at least never thought about it in the same perspective. Now that I think of it, the area is pretty remarkable and sometimes we underestimate areas and or people.

The day was filled with lectures and hands-on activities. One of the first engaging activities that we did was “mining for chocolate”. A variety of tools and cookies were handed out and we were instructed to mine all of the chocolate chips. Some people had as many tools as they needed while other people didn’t have a tool, and on the flip side, some people had a variety of resources, while other people had little to none. We can connect this activity in various ways and at various levels. But the idea was to understand that not everyone has the same tools and resources and how do we all work together to achieve success.

The next few lectures included: sustainability, Bioeconomy, Biomass, Conversion of Biomass to Bioproducts, and Systems Thinking. A lot of information was presented in each lecture and it made me think if I was doing enough for my community. I learned that Biomass is the largest source of renewable energy in the United States. I figured it would be solar power, but I was wrong. Biomass can use a variety of types of feedstock. It is beneficial by using more than one resource so we don’t deplete anything. The idea of sustainability came up many times throughout lectures. Nirav Patel from Cornell University mentioned that we teachers influence the students who then go home and tell their parents, which help mold our society. So if we expose more students to the idea of bioenergy, our societies will hopefully become more sustainable.

The highlight of the day for me was the different rotations and hands-on activities available. One of the stations had supplies to make packaging peanuts in a bio-friendly way. Another station had many byproducts on display to become aware of. My favorite was the lip balm! A few of the other stations were comparing the effectiveness of regular packaging materials verses bioproduct packaging materials. We packaged an egg any way we wanted and dropped it to test out the materials. Most people found the bioproduct packing materials to be more protective. We also made bouncy balls using various bioproducts and tested bioproduct cleaners versus regular cleaners.

Overall, my favorite parts of the day were the hands-on activities. I learn by doing (as do most people) and I was able to see how bioproducts were as usable and friendly compared to non-bioproducts. This helped open my eyes to using more environmentally friendly products. I don’t want to use Styrofoam anymore, I was to use the bioproduct packaging peanuts because instead of throwing them away, you can compost them and they dissolve and they have the same effectiveness!

by Katie Vann
Reading Specialist and WEDC Instructor

After a very long day Tuesday, I had to gear up for another day! I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind from the pervious days. So much new knowledge was just embedded and I was still filtering it all. Wednesday started out with Chris Sperry who was a very engaging presenter. His topic was Integrating Media Literacy. Of course this topic was engaging, it included many pictures, slides, and deep questioning. I have attended a professional development with Chris before so I was very excited to see him again.

Chris works with a grant-funded project called Project Look Sharp. Their website is projectlooksharp.org which includes many, many resources for teachers. The organization wants teachers to teach critical thinkers and decoding skills by using multi-media. We tend to look at things in a single manner but we need to teach people to question, to criticize, and to find truths and misconceptions. Chris focused on the fact that we need to teach students and people to question the where the source of material came from, the validity of it, who made it, why was it made, when was it made. These key points will help build critical thinkers and will expand our minds.

The second presentation I attended was called Conservation of Biomass to Energy presented by Tammy Morgan. Tammy was a very moving presenter and her ideas and philosophies are natural. Her goal was to create a better and environmentally friendly community. She realized that her community was spending money on shipping material wastes away and this needed to be changed. She used her school and many other programs to achieve many things. In the school she works in, they changed the way they recycle and what they trash and compost. She led this change because she realized that if the school and community started using anaerobic digestion, there would be less waste and less money being spent trucking garbage to another town. Tammy didn’t want to just stop here. She has big plans to install an anaerobic digester, a green house that will use some of the output from the anaerobic digester, and other compost materials. Her vision will be a complete cycle of bioenergy. This project has finally become funded and is in the engineering stage and will be started by 2016.

Listening to the first two presenters opened my mind up to what we the people are capable of doing if we put our minds and energy to it. Tammy had an idea and solution to a problem she saw, and she is acting on it. Chris is creating critical thinkers. People who will constantly question things they see and here versus just agreeing with whatever they hear. These two main points can easily be brought into my elementary school and would have a huge impact on the community eventually.

There were many more presenters and activities throughout the day but I was unable to attend them. Every topic sounded intriguing and innovative. Next year, I will try to plan better so I am able to attend the entire workshop.

by Katie Vann
Reading Specialist and WEDC Instructor

The last day of the workshop arrived quickly. The day was spent reflecting and applying our newly learned knowledge. We were provided time throughout the workshop to develop a lesson plan around bioenergy. Many people had the idea of using biophoto reactors. One idea was to use the biophoto reactor to grow algae to then feed it to goldfish within the classroom. This lesson would incorporate many standards and real life learning that includes bioenergy.

At the end of the workshop, we went on a field trip to USDA Big Flats Plant Materials Center. On the trip, we discussed many of the plants and methods the center uses. One of the main products used is switchgrass. Switchgrass can be preferred when making bioenergy and bioproducts because its volume is large, it’s versatile, grows in various soils, it has an extensive root system, and it is not invasive.

Using renewable energy in the classroom reengages student learning. We need to have students understand the impacts that we have on the environment and how we can make changes to help the situations. This workshop has my mind spinning and wondering what I can do in my own school and community. Can I start small with changing our school waste and recycling manners? Can I expand the ideas to the rest of the community? Can I use the agriculture around my home to produce bioproducts and to reduce negative emissions and pollutants in the environment? Can I start a community garden to help promote sustainability?

All of these ideas plus many more can be started and we as educators need to plant the seed within our communities. From this conference, I realize that I can change so many things in my lifestyle to being more environmentally friendly. Before hand, I didn’t think about it as often as I should have or I didn’t act upon the knowledge. My hope is to expose other people to start making a difference, even if it is one tiny seed at a time.

by Katie Vann
Reading Specialist and WEDC Instructor

A few months ago I was approached to attend a National STEM Teacher Workshop. At first, I didn’t know what topics were going to be included but it sounded like an excellent opportunity to grow professionally. As the workshop approached, I learned that the workshop was called Bioenergy and Bioproducts Education Programs. When thinking about the title of the workshop, I really didn’t know what I was getting into. I had heard of biodiesel previously and figured I had a general idea of what bioenergy and bioproducts were, but in reality, I’m a complete novice.

by Katie Vann
Reading Specialist and WEDC Instructor

I was ready to learn. Previously looking over the agenda I was a little blown away with some, I mean most of the topics. I’m an elementary school teacher (currently a Reading Specialist) and we don’t get exposed to highly scientific things unless it’s from our own interest/passion. At this point, I was pretty overwhelmed with the thought that the conference would be over my head, but I kept thinking to myself, “Keep an open mind, learn new things, and reflect on how I can integrate it into my curriculum.”

With my mind set and ready, the first presenter was already talking about bioeconomy and bioproducts. Melissa Jacobsen from Ecovative Design presented about what the company provides to the economy. In a nutshell, they use mycelium from mushrooms and other bio waste to create an alternative plastic material. This material can be composted and or used as mulch at the end of its useful life. Some of the products from Ecovative include: Myco Foam, which is an alternative to Styrofoam, Myco Board, which is an alternative to engineered wood, and Myco Make, which is a “grow it yourself” kit. All of these products use the mycelium mentioned before. The Myco Make was the most interesting aspect and could easily be integrated into the classroom as an experiment. If purchased, a kit is provided so that you are able to grow the mycelium and create different molds and shapes from it, then watch it decompose. This material and activity would be great in all grade levels depending on what depth you would like to take it. Early elementary students would be engaged in watching the fungi grow within a few days and older students would be able to do research and create their own projects.

The rest of day one consisted of a Bioeconomy Expo. This part was nice because you could pick and choose which area you wanted attend. A few of the topics that I attended included: a tour of the wonderful facility; Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, Biofuels: Seed to Fuels, Ecovative Mushroom Packaging and Products (I couldn’t get enough!), and Bio-Preferred products by Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center. Other areas available included: flight simulator, Science on a Sphere, Martian Driving Licenses, Biodiesel, Biomass Cooking, bio-based Forest Products, and Green Careers.

After the first day, my mind was spinning with ideas of how I can include the information into my elementary setting and the new information that I can apply to my everyday living to reduce my environmental footprint.

by Katie Vann
Reading Specialist and WEDC Instructor