Polk County Public Schools
Dr. Bruce Sabin, a science teacher at Haines City High, was one of 34 Florida teachers chosen to participate in the Florida Department of Education’s Teacher Quest program during the summer of 2008.
Sponsored by the Melbourne, Fla.-based Technological Research and Development Authority, Teacher Quest is a seven-week, paid summer professional development program during which kindergarten to 12th grade teachers work at select science and technology-based businesses in Florida. Teachers bring valuable industry knowledge back to the classroom to make math, science and technology studies more exciting and challenging for students.
Dr. Sabin worked with the Alternative Energy Strategy office at Progress Energy of Florida as an energy analyst. His projects included working on a grant studying the potential for wind power in Florida, a business plan to increase the use of solar hot water heaters and strategies for developing infrastructure needed for large-scale use of plug-in, hybrid electric vehicles.
“I learned more about the legal, political and social influences on the alternative energy technologies,” Sabin said. “I also learned a tremendous amount about the current state of technologies and how Progress Energy is planning for the future.”
Based on his summer experience, Sabin is developing lesson plans to teach Haines City High students about energy use, production, conservation and the environmental impacts of human activity on the environment.
His lesson plans include using scientific inquiry to investigate wind patterns and determining the amount of renewable energy that can be captured through wind power.
He plans to equip his students with an anemometer (device for measuring wind speed), data from a weather station, a rain gauge, a scale map of the Haines City High campus and a wind resource map. Students will also research wind turbine manufacturers, state funding for wind power research and determine if the Haines City High campus has sufficient wind resources for wind power to be an effective alternative strategy.
Progress Energy representatives are expected to visit with Sabin’s students and as the energy company’s research on wind power continues, new information will be integrated into class activities.
“When Progress Energy develops a wind map of Florida, their results can be compared with the maps developed by students,” Sabin said.