Exploring the evolving electric grid as a strategy to promote energy literacy among educators and prepare students for careers in a low-carbon economy

Teaching about the energy sources used to generate electricity in the context of the electrical grid and then exploring grid resilience to extreme weather and sea level rise offers numerous opportunities for engaging students in authentic investigations of their region's energy system. This approach cultivates energy and climate literacy as well as systems thinking among students and ultimately prepares them for careers in a low-carbon economy. Preparing this future workforce is dependent upon teacher knowledge of the evolving electric grid, emerging technologies, and careers. In 2017, the Institute for the Environment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill founded the NC Energy Literacy Fellows Program, a year-long professional development experience for grades 6-12 STEM teachers that combines hands-on and minds-on energy investigations with place-based explorations of electrical generation facilities. The program design intentionally builds educators' capacity to not only introduce students to the various energy sources but to showcase how these sources are used to generate electricity in the context of a larger system, the evolving electric grid. A functioning electric grid is essential to climate resilience, yet the grid faces many challenges that will require a diverse and innovative workforce as more renewables come online and as climate change increasingly threatens electric infrastructure and the communities that rely on electricity. Learning about the knowledge and skills needed to support a low-carbon economy and modernize the electric grid enables teachers to explore numerous curriculum connections and update their energy instruction with relevant and engaging content. Fellows report visiting facilities and interacting with staff are significant learning experiences that ultimately enhance classroom discourse and increase student engagement during energy instruction. Fellows report an increased knowledge of NC's energy "landscape" and of the electric grid and awareness of career opportunities in the energy sector, and an increased capacity to integrate energy-related STEM content and promote energy careers. We will describe the program and share results from longitudinal program evaluation of the 2017-2019 cohorts.