EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH ACTIVITIES SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has assembled a group of scientists and engineers from the staff to provide time and technical knowledge for K-12 Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia school districts. These volunteers act as resources for laboratory visits and classroom lectures/demonstrations.

NETL sponsors ten high school or middle school teachers to serve as paid interns during the summer months at either the Pittsburgh or Morgantown site. They assist a scientist or engineer with an on-going research projects and incorporate the experience into their lesson plans.

Both laboratory sites host a regional High School Science Bowl where the respective team winners compete against some 50 other regional team winners at the DOE National Science Bowl held in Washington, D.C., each year. Questions are taken from the fields of science, mathematics and computer science.

The Energy, Environment and Economics (EEE) Seminar is organized yearly for K-6 teachers. The seminar is a two-day workshop, consisting of hands-on activities, conducted by NETL personnel, university professors and local science organizations/museums.

Site tours are scheduled throughout the school year to provide K-12 students the opportunity to observe and interact with researchers on how a variety of science experiments are being conducted.

School classroom presentations are also a major activity of NETL personnel for K-12 students. These presentations include hands-on activities in all fields of science, engineering and computer applications.

NETL also participates in the National Earth Day by sponsoring a poster contest for K-5 students. Three winning posters are selected from each grade and displayed at the site.

The NETL website (www.netl.doe/cool science/index.html) serves as the main source of communication with the educational community. Details of the above programs and other educational outreach activities sponsored by NETL can be found on this website.