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A proposal for a new IB subject "Renewable Energy Technology" to be taught at United World Colleges.
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Renewable Energy Technology
Proposal for a new subject for teaching at UWC
An idea developed by
Magan Savant, IB Physics teacher, MUWCI (1997 – 2003), Li Po Chung UWC (since 2003)
Tobias Kellner, MUWCI (1998 – 2000)Centre for Alternative Technology (2008 - )
In a nutshell:
We have written a proposal for a new IB science subject
The subject will use renewable energy technology as a vehicle to teach useful things
It contains elements of social (group 3) and natural (group 4) sciences
It will be fun for teachers and students!!
Sustainability at UWC:
UWC makes education a force to unite people,
nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future
Sustainability at UWC
• UWC was founded to address the threat of conflicts between nations
• Today, unsustainable and inequitable use of natural resources is as serious a threat
• However, sustainability as UWC is often “tagged on”
Sustainability at UWC
• One way of introducing the topic at UWC is to have modules related to sustainability “tagged on” to existing IB subjects
• e.g. teaching renewable energy as a module in physics, or sustainability as part of design and technology
IB Physics
Renewable Energy Module
IB Design & Technology
Sustainability Module
Sustainability at UWC
• Our proposal is to teach elements of natural science (esp. physics), environmental science and social science (esp. economics) through the subject of Renewable Energy Technology
• Sustainable technology is at the core, not tagged on!
IB Renewable
Energy Technolog
y
Inter-disciplinary
thinking
General science
Sustainable technology
Practical application
Inter-UWC exchange
General Science
general scientific thinking
important core concepts from physics (plus some biology and chemistry)
relevant for everyone
Sustainable technology
teach it using sustainable energy technology that really matters in today’s world
giving UWC students a head-start!
Interdisciplinary thinking
integrate technical, economic, ecological and social aspects of technology
encourage students to see the bigger picture
Practical application
Hands-on application
Lab sessions
CAS activities
Project Weeks
Extended Essay …
Inter-UWC exchange
UWC are in extremely diverse environments
different technologies fit different UWCs
exchange information, teaching resources
What would it look like?
This is how we teach science today (IB Physics – as I remember it):
In the classroom – IB Physics today
A mass of m = 5 kg is lifted up h = 20 m
- By how much did the potential energy increase?
This is how we could teach it in Renewable Energy Technology:
A village in Nepal wants to use a stream with a flow rate of 5 l/s and a drop of 20 m to produce electricity.
In the classroom
- How many 15W light bulbs can this scheme power?
It’s the same formula!But it doesn’t stop here:
In the classroom
- What impact will it have on people’s lifes?
- What impact will it have on the environment?
In the classroom
- The project will cost $1,000 and replace a diesel generator which costs $1 / kWh produced
- What will be the rate of return over 20 years?
Lab sessions- Great opportunities for
hands-on experiments
CASExcellent opportunities for
CAS projects, e.g.• building a wind turbine
at Atlantic College• supporting local biogas
schemes at Mahindra• …
Inter-UWC ExchangeImagine Atlantic College
builds a wind turbine as a CAS activity, documents the activity (video, data logging etc.), and exchanges the material…
Inter-UWC Exchange… for similar material on
Mahindra UWC’s biogas project
Where are we now?
We have a draft-version for a standard-level IB subject syllabus
The IB has a mechanism for introducing School-Based Subjects (SBS)
Now we need colleges with staff and students who have the energy to
make it happen…
Contact information
Tobi_Kellner@yahoo.com
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