Rock Lake Middle School teacher Lucille Case is helping her sixth-grade students understand the current energy crisis by having them design alternative sources.
After learning about all the alternatives, students created three-dimensional model homes -- to dwell in on land, in the sea or outer space -- that use these forms of energy.
"The projects were simply wonderful," Case said. hey ranged from a solar-powered mountain-top villa to undersea cities powered by water-current turbines.
There were houseboats and beach houses using energy from the waves and tidal currents, and some were built inside mountains to conserve heat.
"I even had some students create cities on other planets using windmills to harness the great force of winds there," she added.
There were about 100 projects, and many of them light up and several had photovoltaic cells to power fans or lights.
The models have been attracting attention from School Board members, district officials and politicians.
State Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, recently made a trip to Rock Lake, and U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, visited Case's class Feb. 5.
In addition to viewing the projects, Mica gave each child a little bound copy of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. "My students explained their projects to him, and he enjoyed the question-and-answer period," she said. "There was a great exchange of ideas and comments regarding fossil fuels versus renewable energy."
Case said she wanted her students to learn how to save the environment by using clean renewable resources on this planet and wanted to show some relevance between what they read in a book and the real world.
"Hopefully, this generation can solve the problems that the older generation has created with our dependency on fossil fuels," Case said.
In one classroom activity, her students burned peanuts and other biomass materials to assess how much energy is given off.
They also studied solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric power, tidal power, geothermal energy, ocean-wave energy and the use of photovoltaic cells for powering homes.
"My students realize that fossil fuels pollute the atmosphere, cause global warming and are escalating in price," she said. "Soon they will be gone forever."
Case has made it her goal through the years to help her students learn about current events and has made a practice of taking news from the headlines and turning it into science projects that help them deal with their feelings while learning about science.
In 2002, she won a Special Judges Award fromWalt Disney World for "The Phoenix Project: Students Rebuild New York City" -- a project created when she taught at Greenwood Lake Middle in Lake Mary.
As a way of dealing with the stress and anxiety from the Sept. 11 attacks, Case's students researched, designed and built model skyscrapers they felt could replace the ones that were lost in New York City.
When hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne hitFlorida in 2004, she helped her students deal with their feelings by having them design hurricane-proof buildings.
"By bringing in real world events, I think it helps the students remember issues that affect them," Case said. "The topic of alternative energy couldn't be more important because one day fossil fuels will not be available; then what?" Credit: Tammie Wersinger can be reached at
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