Carol Burch
2005
Hannibal, NY
Hannibal High School
Second Place Winner
$12,000
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Knowing that energy issues are becoming increasingly important and that today’s students are the future engineers of tomorrow, Burch came up with the “Wind or PV (Photovoltaic): What Should it Be? program to help raise students’ awareness of energy education. In the program, physics and environmental students will become hands-on researchers and engineers of two types of renewable energy generation systems for possible implementation in the school district. The students will research, design and construct a wind turbine, a device that will receive energy from the wind and convert it to electricity. The goal is to make science more relevant and improve the students’ problem solving and critical thinking skills. Upon completion of the project, the students will collect data comparing wind power versus solar power generation for the school and present a summary to the Hannibal Board of Education for funding. Burch lives in Red Creek.