Biogas Academy teaches students about energy creation
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Rose Cascio, 13, takes place in a balloon blow-up activity to explore the chemical reaction that takes place when mixing baking soda and vinegar at the Biogas Energy Academy at Cal U’s upper campus SAI Farm.
About 100 eighth graders from The Barack Obama Academy of International Studies visited the farm to learn about energy use and alternative energy through a series of hands-on activites.
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Matt Dumbroski (left), eighth-grade English teacher at Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-12, helps student Catara Moore, 13, as a chemical reaction takes places during the balloon blow-up activity at the Biogas Energy Academy at Cal U’s upper campus SAI Farm. “It’s fun because it’s more hands-on and at school we don’t get to do this,” said Catara about the energy academy.
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Shale Brown, biology and pre-med senior at Cal U, teaches eighth-graders how to read pH levels from pH strips as part of an acids and bases activity at the Biogas Energy Academy at Cal U’s upper campus SAI Farm. About 100 eighth-graders from Barack Obama Academy of International Studies visited the farm to learn about energy use and alternative energy through a series of hands-on activities.
Thalia Juarez | Herald-Standard
Dr. Janie McClurkin-Moore, from the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, explains to students how a biogas generation system works at the Biogas Energy Academy at CAL U’s upper campus SAI Farm. About 100 eighth graders from The Barack Obama Academy of International Studies visited the farm to learn about energy use and alternative energy through a series of hands-on activites.
The 106 eighth-graders from Barack Obama Academy of International Studies in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood didn’t see any cows during their recent field trip to California University of Pennsylvania’s SAI Farm in Coal Center.
But they did learn a thing or two about energy creation at the university’s first-ever Biogas Energy Academy, an initiative put together by Janie McClurkin-Moore, an assistant professor in the Biological and Environmental Science Department who funded the event with a $2,600 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
For McClurkin-Moore, who grew up in inner-city Columbus, Ohio, the goal of the program was to show the kids how energy worked and to prove to them that, they too, can earn a doctorate — if they want.
“I wanted to talk to the students and encourage them, said McClurkin-Moore, whose Ph.D. from Purdue University is in agriculture and biological engineering.
The eighth-graders, mostly from Pittsburgh’s inner-city neighborhoods, were divided into two groups, chaperoned by five teachers from the school. The first group was shown a large, plastic barrel that looked like a rain cistern. In reality, it was a biogas generation system that broke down acids in biodegradable items, such as cow manure, and generated methane gas that can be used for cooking or turned into electricity.
“It is all about turning waste into energy,” said McClurkin-Moore, who first became interested in energy while still in elementary school.
“A teacher said there was no way we were going to get rid of all the garbage. It was going to keep piling up and up,” she said. “I knew then, I wanted to make a difference.”
McClurkin-Moore led the students to the SAI Farmhouse. There, she walked them through an energy audit to figure out how much power they use daily and what it costs.
“How much TV do you watch and how long do you leave your cellphones on?” she asked.
The second group of students, meanwhile, stayed at the pavilion on the 94-acre farm, which includes an orchard with apple, plum, pear and cherry trees, as well as wetlands, and bee hives. Some of the fruit from the orchard is donated to the Washington County Food Bank.
Under the direction of Louise Nicholson, who is also a professor in the university’s Biological and Environmental Science Department, the kids learned how to create gas using vinegar and sodium bicarbonate. Those materials were poured into a water bottle. Nicholson had the kids write something on the balloon, then place it on the rim of the bottle. They then could see what was written on the balloon as it expanded.
“It was pretty cool,” said Jehlani Alston, 13.
His friend, Jhyree Burden, also 13, agreed.
“It was something that I had never seen before,” he said. “I learned a lot.”
McClurkin-Moore said during the event, she would like to make Biogas Energy Academy an annual event for inner-city students.