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University of Wyoming

What is the curriculum?

Classes

You will be attending classes for 2 to 2 1/2 hours in the morning and the afternoon.  They are stimulating and fun - with no pressure.  Courses may require some time outside the classroom for reading, research, and working on class projects with other students.  No tests, grades, or credits are given to 9th-grade students.  Teachers may receive PTSB credits or UW graduate school credit.  Classes meet four days a week.

The 2008 classes are Powering the Future with Renewable Wind Energy, Energy-Efficient Architecture, and All Things Geo: An Exploration of Geospatial Technologies for Understanding Energy Resources.

Powering the Future with Renewable Wind Energy is taught by Professor ScottProfessor Scott Morton Morton, Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science.

This class reviews the broad, global energy picture, looks at renewable energy pathways, and focuses on wind energy.  Participants will construct a Savonius wind turbine and test it in the wind tunnel.  This class was offered in our 2007 program.  Topics include:

  • Global Scale Major Energy Sources
  • Energy Sources in the Future
  • Mechanism and Characteristics of Wind Energy
  • Wind Energy Conversion Using Wind Turbines
  • Wind Turbine Construction
  • Converting the Mechanical Motion of the Wind Turbine to Electrical Power
  • Building PMAs
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Energy-Efficient Architecture is taught by Professor Anthony Denzer, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science.  This course focuses on energy use in buildings and how architectural design can produce buildings that use less.  Topics include:

  • Global problem of energy use and how typical American buildings contribute
  • Climate-specific design strategies for buildings to use less energy
  • How buildings can produce their own energy
  • How a building has "embodied" energy due to its materials and construction
  • Strategies for reducing embodied energy
  • How pre-modern buildings addressed climate and comfort
  • How today's cutting-edge buildings use new technologies to save energy

Activities will include field trips to a straw-bale home, off-the-grid homes, and tours of UW building displaying architectural features covered in the class.

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All Things Geo: An Exploration of Geospatial Technologies for Understanding Energy Resources

Professor Steven Prager, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, and Professor Kenneth Driese, Associate Lecturer with the Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center and Department of Botany, will conduct workshops covering global position systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing (RS) and using GPS receivers.  Learning activities include:

  • Where in the (energy) world is Wyoming? - Introduction of spatial concepts and the full suite of geospatial tools
  • Hunting for Hydrocarbons - Students will see an energy-related geospatial project from beginning to end
  • Full of Hot Air - An introduction to the data available with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for analysis of Wyoming's potential for supporting renewable resources
  • Where's PAPA? - Participants are introduced to the power of geospatial imagery and the application of remote sensing to geologic mapping and land cover analysis.

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Updated 12/14/2007