STEM on the Road: A Mobile Energy Classroom.

The University of Tennessee at Martin mobile energy classroom was developed as an educational and outreach endeavor to provide awareness and knowledge about energy consumption and alternative energy sources for the rural communities of West Tennessee. The major objectives of this USDA-NIFA funded project were to design and build a mobile classroom aimed at providing a thorough overview of what energy is, how it is produced, how and why we should conserve energy, while providing examples of various renewable energy technologies. Displays include home lighting comparisons, biodiesel production, water and wind power generation, fuel efficiency and bioenergy (methane) demonstrations. The mobile energy classroom can be used to help organize, develop and provide informational and educational teaching resources for use in universities, K-12 classrooms, community events and organizational meetings. Upon its launch in September 2016 at the Tennessee Soybean Festival, the mobile classroom reached an audience of more than 600, displaying information on energy use and conservation. Since then it has traveled to schools, and other local, regional, and state-wide events. Audience and community feedback suggests that the classroom has been instrumental in creating awareness about renewable energy education. This mobile STEM classroom is serving as a unique energy educational resource for the rural west Tennessee region. It is also providing our students and ourselves with new connections, internships and networking opportunities in the state. The mobile energy classroom is a fun and interractive means of providing renewable energy education to interested organizations and the general public.