Campus Connection

UW-La Crosse physics faculty and K-12 teachers are continuing a partnership to prepare teachers to meet new Next Generation Science Standards, recently released in April 2013. Teachers from three area school districts participated in a summer workshop for teachers June 17-21 and June 24-28 at UW-L. In 2012, the UW-L Physics Department received a $450,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to offer physical science workshops through August 2014 for 30 K-12 teachers in the La Crosse, Tomah, and Onalaska school districts. The grant went to Gubbi Sudhakaran and Jennifer Docktor in the UW-L Physics Department. Partners in the grant include UW-L, the La Crosse, Onalaska and Tomah school districts, CESA #4 (Cooperative Educational Service Agency) and Redman & Associates. The three-year grant is committed to collaboration and preparation of teachers to meet the new standards. [caption id="attachment_24481" align="alignright" width="550"] K-12 teachers worked together to learn the basic principles of active solar collection using photovoltaic devices during a workshop led by UW-L Assistant Professor of Physics Seth King. Here teachers explore how the color and amount of light impacts the amount of energy produced by a solar cell. From left, Kim Novak, High Performance Learner Teacher in La Crosse; (back) Cathy Wildes, fourth grade teacher at Camp Douglas Elementary in Tomah; Steve Ewers, seventh grade teacher at Tomah Middle School.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_24480" align="alignright" width="550"] Teachers get hands on experience with two different types of solar cells. From left, Patrick Shay, a fourth grade teacher at Emerson Elementary in La Crosse, and Karen Wilke, a sixth grade teacher at Longfellow Middle School in La Crosse.[/caption]