High School STEM Talk on Model S

I volunteered to talk about the MS at the high school where I graduated. Besides a sense of pride in being an owner, the high school is located in the electron desert of northeast Pennsylvania and I figured it could be a neat experience for the kids. The high school has a large foreign student population, especially from Asia so that made the offer even more interesting for me. We now live in northern VA, by the way.

What I initially imagined as a one class hour-long interaction with the kids has now taken on a life of its own. I was given the name of the freshman STEM science professor as a contact and she said the topic fit well in the freshman curriculum. She then told me that the STEM class actually consisted of five periods with about twenty kids in each period. So my immediate thought was “In for a penny, in for a pound” and I might as well make a day out of the experience.

I figure most of the fun they’ll get from the experience will be seeing the car and exploring the inside, but I’ve also put together info on safety, software, all wheel drive, autopilot and the battery. We’ve agreed on a structure where about half the time in each class is for me to talk and answer general questions while the other half is spent with the car on Q&A.

So for the newest complication, the professor told me that they are going to tell the whole school about the visit and let anyone with a free period during the day attend the classes. I’m considering suggesting to her that they also ought to let the local news outlets know and maybe they’ll send a reporter or a camera crew. Then maybe I’ll have a drive/ride sign-up sheet for anyone interested after-school; I suspect there will be a few adults in the classes that get curious. :biggrin:

I admit, a big piece of me that wonders if I’m in over my head. But I’ve had the car for over a year and really enjoy it as well as the forums so I think I’m reasonably prepared. I am quietly hoping that this could generate some positive PR for EV’s and charging infrastructure because if any area of the country needs it, northeast PA does.

Oh, and I met someone from Tesla Marketing at the Tysons Corners VA opening this weekend and they are going to send me Tesla stickers for the class. That was very nice of them to help me out.

The presentation is in early April, so if you would like to express any support, sympathy or mockery at my sheer lunacy now is your opportunity.

mgboyes said:

The best way I know of to eliminate any risk of the car moving is to plug a charging cable in.

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I was planning to do this. First for the safety factor but also hoping to have a 120 outlet nearby to show the charging versatility. Disables the shift stalk even with just the one end plugged into the car, though.

@trils0n - my wife's a teacher and has warned me about the emotional/physical investment.

@markwj - I was going to ask the last class of the day to wash it but then I'd also have to teach them the two bucket method and that might need another class

@sickfox - I like that idea. Thanks.

markwj said:

#1 What came first - petrol cars or electric cars?
#2 How many battery cells do you guess are in this car?
#3 Where's the exhaust?

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I found the TMC thread with the battery tear-down pictures and was thinking of using it.

@Chipper - you want my file? Not quite sure what you mean by "research". I assume I can email it to you through the forum.

Presentation in one week.
I'm on campus all day; besides the multiple STEM classes, there are a few other science classes joining the fun.
I've got my talking points all set and I've got a way to use a projector to mirror an ipad screen during the classroom time which will give me the flexibility of being among the students while controlling the presentation.
The good news is that I basically get to park in the center of campus all day so I'm hoping there are plenty of casual conversations. Well over 100 students in the captive audiences, though.
Just hoping that the weather cooperates and the hands-on time isn't forced indoors due to rain; Evey's looking forward to getting some air with the top down and the windows open

Oh boy. Oh boy. OH BOY!
I have to make the time tomorrow to post a summary with pix that does the event justice but it's not going to happen right now after a whole day at the school.


I was joined by BOTH Grinnin' from TMC forum and DavidB. DavidB was literally a last minute addition, having bumped into Grinnin' at the Hagerstown supercharger on his way to PA and learning of the event. Both were welcome additions not only for sharing their cars, which helped greatly because some of the classes had 30-40 students, but also for sharing their experiences and expertise.


We got local TV coverage from both WNEP and WBRE but I haven't found their video segments online yet. I expect print media coverage in Saturday's Citizen's Voice and Times Leader papers and I'll post those links when available as well.


The students were very receptive. Some of them did their homework and came very prepared with good questions about the car. Most just liked being able to fiddle with the touchscreen. I talked to one student from Spain that was excited her country is getting superchargers and another student from Hong Kong that was happy to see the cars up close.


I was already asked if I'd be interested in doing it again. I replied that I'll be at the Reach the Beach event next weekend but I'm open the weekend after that


We had a great time and I heartily thank both gentlemen for their contribution. Maybe we need some representation from the opposite sex the next time around? Just sayin'. More to come.

cmu5p said:

I will be in/around PA area May 8-10 weekend. I love talking to fellow girls about interest in Science. Lmk your next event and I'll see if it could work out. What a great way to promote the car and stimulate interest from the young 'uns. Your excitement is palpable and appreciated.
Claire

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While the intent was serious, the timing was in jest. I plan to see if we can set something up for next fall. I will keep you in mind!

Links for media coverage from the event.
Television:
http://wnep.com/2015/04/10/charged-up-about-learning/

http://www.pahomepage.com/story/d/s...ne-county-school/28126/cPbrKyhNP0SrQ3ZsImzsxw

Print:
http://timesleader.com/news/home_top-local-news-news/152832057/

http://citizensvoice.com/news/tesla-owners-show-off-vehicles-at-wyoming-seminary-1.1861771

You’ll have to pardon me for retracing a bit but it’s important to the summary.

So my original intent was to volunteer my time for the day to discuss the car and EV technology with the STEM classes. However about a week before the event Grinnin’ got in touch and asked to participate. I didn’t count on the offer but realized that two cars are better than one so I contacted the school for permission to add him and they happily agreed. This would be Grinnin’s first long distance trip in his new D and he didn’t want to make the direct trip to northeast PA from VA so on his way up he decided to stop at Hagerstown. That’s where he bumped into DavidB. They got to talking and upon realizing that he had no immediate plans, DavidB decided to give me a call to inquire about joining the fun. I didn’t know if I could get him added at the last minute but the school was agreeable and we made arrangements to all meet the next morning.

We all pretty much arrived at the same time on campus the next day and DavidB sought an outdoor outlet since he didn’t get a chance to charge completely upon getting into town. We combined extension cords and played around with a few plugs until getting one to work. By the time we checked out the room for the indoor sessions and reviewed the day’s schedule with our hosts the students began to arrive for the first class of the day. We would be presenting to five classes during the day, with two classes containing 30 to 40 students each and the remainder containing about 15-20 each. We would try to keep the indoor sessions to about 20 minutes and allow the students another 20 minutes outside to explore the cars and discuss features with each owner. During time without classes we were either conducting interviews with media or discussing the cars with other students that happened by with a free period. By the time the afternoon rolled around I realized that I hadn’t taken any pictures, completely missing my opportunity in the morning to set up the GoPro in time lapse mode. I snapped a few in the afternoon but I’m hoping to get ahold of the school’s Media department shots.

The indoor sessions consisted of short personal intros, discussions about charging and superchargers, discussions about the car’s software and general questions. The school has a healthy population of Asian and European students and their interest in the car and technology was especially gratifying. There were multiple questions about battery degradation and the car’s speed. There was one lad that asked about the feasibility of putting a supercharger in your home which led to an extended discussion about how fast you really need to charge at home. Another student asked me when a pick-up truck model was coming out (volunteer firefighter and scuba diver, by the way, so lots of gear. Props to her!) When we got to discussing long distance travel, the students seemed impressed with DavidB’s experiences up and down the east coast, Grinnin’s planned trip to Phoenix and back and my planned DC-Seattle-San Diego-DC excursion. My apologies if the summary seems one-sided as the three of us did not have an opportunity to debrief after the event, so hopefully Grinnin’ or DavidB can add their experiences.

I was excited to show off the car’s hidden features but very few students got the Spinal Tap volume reference. It made me a bit sad to realize that I’m old enough to be in on the joke; at the same time I’m hopeful that they’ll eventually get around to viewing and loving the movie. They did like the submarine and Jules Verne reference.

The group dynamic with Grinnin’ and DavidB worked out really well as we brought different backgrounds and perspectives to the conversation. I’m personally grateful for their participation as it made car demos much easier and really showed off some of the diversity in the owner community. It only occurred to me now that there’s no way I would have thought about doing this with another vehicle. While I didn’t use all the material I prepped, I didn’t feel like it was wasted time either. Who else owns a car that makes them smarter?

If there is another opportunity, I’m kicking around the idea of combining it with a larger sociability run. The northeast/north central piece of the state really needs a supercharger to help support that concept, though. But I believe fun was had by all and hopefully there will be a chance to do it again. I thank those of you that supplied suggestions or material for the day’s effort.