This is a guest post by Jake Snyder, student at T. Wingate Andrews High School in North Carolina 

For this project we created a scaled down power grid model. This model was used at an Energy Day presentation at A&T University in North Carolina. The students that were presented to were encouraged to interact with the power grid and ask questions about it. The presentation was very informative to young students of science and helped give a better understanding of how we all receive electricity. After all was said and done, we had presented to over 700 students about our project.

The power grid model was very time consuming to build because there was much electric work involved in the process. It took probably a total of six hours to build between three people, but it looked great and we were glad to have it ready. Once we tested the grid to see if it was conducting perfectly, it was time to present.

The presentations were great for us and the students. We enjoyed talking to the younger students about science and encouraging them to pay attention in their science courses. They enjoyed the experience as well; they were so full of questions and enthusiasm that it was very easy to teach them and present to them. We received overwhelming positive feedback from the students as well as their instructors. We also enjoyed seeing other presentations on display at energy day.

This experience opened our eyes to just how capable younger students are of affecting our world for the better. They were very aware of many of the things we talked about already, but what was more shocking was how quickly they grasped the newer concepts taught during our presentations. They are very bright and if the ideas are planted in their brains at a young age, they will develop them more efficiently with their maturation and education.