As part of its ongoing education and outreach efforts, APEP recently hosted two visits from middle school students for a day of clean energy educational activities. Students from Our Lady of Peace School in North Hills and Tarbut V’Torah Middle School in Irvine visited APEP during the winter quarter to learn about sustainable energy and the real life application of alternative energy systems.

Students from both schools spent time learning the fundamentals of clean energy and the process for how a fuel cell works, as well as touring APEP’s research facilities and meeting graduate research students. During the tour, students were able to view operating stationary fuel cells, a live flame combustion demonstration, and a fleet of alternative fuel vehicles including fuel cell vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Fourth graders from Our Lady of Peace were able to get hands on learning experience during a fuel cell game in which they acted as the principal components of a fuel cell to create the most energy possible (or the clicks of a flashlight turning on and off). The twelfth graders were able to understand how an electric motor works by building a device with batteries, magnets, paperclips, and wire. The activities used to educate these students were an example of APEP’s ongoing development of K-12 curricula devoted towards clean energy in general and fuel cells in particular.