On April 30, 2016, Marohn Group graduate students led two separate workshops at the annual Expanding Your Horizons Conference at Cornell University.
The goal of this day-long conference was to introduce middle-school-aged girls to the STEM fields (Science, Techonology, Engineering and Mathematics) through various demonstrations, discussions, and hands-on experiences. Members of our laboratory designed two different, exciting workshops. One workshop, “Juice from Juice: Berry Solar Cell”, was designed for 7th and 8th graders. This workshop provided an introduction to the design and construction of a simple organic solar cell. The other workshop, “Turning on the Light”, was designed for 9th graders who have more experience thinking about electricity, work, and magnetism.
In addition to leading workshops, many Marohn-laboratory members held leadership positions within the Expanding Your Horizons organization, helping to ensure that the April 30th event ran well. We are happy to report that after months of preparation the EYH conference went off smoothly and successfully!
Juice from Juice - Berry Solar Cell
The ‘Juice from Juice’ workshop where middle-school aged girls learn about organic solar cells and made their own berry-power cells. Upper Left: ITO-slide is soaked in chosen berry juice; Upper Right: workshop leaders explaining the working concept and the simple construction of berry solar cells; Middle: Workshop leaders during lunch break; Lower Left: a workshop leader demonstrates the step-by-step construction of berry solar cell to the girls and parents; Lower Right: Girls taking note while building their solar cells.
Turning on the Light
The ‘Turning on the Light’ workshop where girls are building their own wind electricity generators using simple tools and magnets. Above: The girls are winding copper wires around a plastic tube for magnet feedthrough.