Ed Tech 4 Science

This month I was invited to work with Lee Hartwell (Nobel Prize winner for his work on cells that had important implications for cancer research) and his team at the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. While not as important as cancer research to save individual lives, our work can contribute to the goal of helping to sustain an individual planet. We are developing a sustainability course for Arizona State University that will be taken by all elementary education students.

Getting to Seattle early, I was able to walk around Lake Union, take a short boat cruise, and find a neat coffee house. As I was enjoying my coffee and the cool air from the open windows, I noticed a very sleek red sports car and then a sign that said Tesla. I had just read an article about the two electric sports cars trying to survive in the US and this was the showroom for one. I bustled over with my coffee and found that they were selling for $108,000. I asked if it was okay to take some photographs, and the receptionist said, “If you put down your coffee, you can get in, and I will take your picture.” Which was an offer that couldn’t be refused.

Sitting in this car, and thinking, “Wow, I am here to work on sustainability and here I am in this brilliant electric sports car.” Perhaps it was the forces of karma that seemed to bring these two events together, my mind actually started thinking of scenarios for me to purchase this car! If you know me, this is so far from who I am; I am a “buy and hold” car person (my small 1999 Acura, that I bought used, has 136,000 miles), who always pays cash for vehicles, and who treats cars as means to get from point A to B rather than as adornments. But the karma and sitting in this awesome vehicle contributed to a flight of fancy, that has now landed. Just as the fox called the grapes he couldn’t get sour, it was tempting to disparage as I walked away: “I could buy three foreclosed houses in Phoenix for this much money,” “It was kind of difficult to get into the car,” and “I want a car that I can drink coffee in.” I do, however, admit that I really hope this company succeeds, and electric cars become more than just curiosities. And to be honest, I don’t really want three foreclosed houses, I need to get more limber, and drink less coffee. I do also hope that you buy this car, keep it in great shape, and then sell it to me in five years for one-quarter the original cost.  Today is also the IPO of Tesla, I hope they are successful in raising capital for this venture.

As we move to sustainable ways of producing electricity, electric cars will be a much greener alternative. We need to capitalize on the interests of young people and help them understand how these cars work and why electric cars can contribute to cleaner environments and less use of fossil fuels. Adaptive Curriculum has an Activity Object on solar cars, which improves on the Tesla design by having solar panels. It is difficult to imagine solar panels on the Tesla, but I’m sure in the not-too-distant future we will be seeing paints that are embedded with hidden electronics that convert sunlight to electricity.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 4:46 pm and is filed under All Grade Levels, Classroom Best Practices, Elementary School Science, High School Science, Middle School Science, On-Line Learning, Simulations, physics, science materials.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.