 My name is Matt Olson, and I teach at Hinkley Big Rock Middle School in Big Rock, Illinois, and I teach seventh and eighth grade science. Our project is an energy project for students. I'll learn about different types of energy resources. Part of the money was used to install a wind turbine that we have out back, and then the students have been doing experiments with students. We started by building a small concept wind turbine and test it for how many volts it produces. And then from there, from their small scale test, they are building much larger ones. And once again, we'll take their concept and test it, and the goal is to learn about what is the best design and look at the electrical output from them and kind of a competition. Another part of this unit is the solar part of our unit. Students learn about how solar panels work, and then they design and build their own solar race cars that we test out. The response from the students has been really overwhelming and nice. I have students that come in every day during study halls and want to stay after school working on these projects. Some of those students that were struggling, handling the book work are thriving in the hands-on technical aspect of this project. It's kind of an inspiration to getting some of them interested in this field of science that hopefully when they get now into high school, they'll take the classes that deal more with design and engineering, and hopefully they'll carry on into high school and into their careers. This project is important for the next generation because these students in this class are going to be the adults, the engineers, the scientists, that their designs and their inspirations that worldwide slowly change in the way we use energy.