UWC renewable energy proposal

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”


• 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


• 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

[email protected]