CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — In Cumberland County, several fourth grade students from Cumberland Valley and the PA STEAM Academy explored renewable energy.

It’s all part of the “Thinking Bigger” program that was created by Capital Area Intermediate Unit and Phoenix Contact.

Thinking Bigger is a ready-made, off-the-shelf curriculum for fourth grade students that CAIU and Phoenix Contact have launched across the region. Last fall, the curriculum was piloted among 1,800 students in the area.

Now, at the end of the school year, CAIU hosted some of the students for a Thinking Bigger Showcase.

The mission of the program is to connect community businesses and local school districts in educating fourth grade students on renewable energy and careers in engineering and science. 

“We walk them through learning how to fail forward and improve on designs to make it exactly what it needs to be,” said Sherisa Nailor, supervisor of special projects at CAIU.

Students took part in both a wind and solar unit before doing a full presentation about what kind of renewable energy the students should use in their schools and towns.

On Wednesday, the students participated in multiple green energy challenges, creating their own wind-powered cars, designing a wind turbine blade and making a solar town.

“We’re a big believer that students can’t become what they can’t see,” Nailor said. “So, we want them to see themselves as engineers and as designers and as problem solvers for their community, their families and for their world.”

CAIU and Phoenix Contact hope to expand the curriculum into more schools and more grade levels.