The struggle against global warming is not only the domain of governments around the world. The younger generation recognizes the environmental problems that affect their future and chooses to learn and change!
Sixth grade students from the Orian School in Be’er Sheva were hosted at the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technion, following their application to Prof. Avner Rothschild as part of their participation in the international robotics competition FIRST LEGO League Challenge.
Orian School students in grades 5-6 have won two consecutive wins in the three years in which they participated in the competition, this year will be their fourth year of participation.
The theme of this year’s competition is energy and students must find solutions to real-world challenges. The students, accompanied by Ms. Ravit Shemesh, the science coordinator at Orian School and the leader of the robotics group, investigated the climate crisis and electricity generation and whether it is possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the production of green electricity by green hydrogen.
The students said that as part of the preparations for the competition, they read a study done at the Technion on the production of hydrogen in a way that does not pollute the environment, following which they contacted Prof. Avner Rothschild, who heads the Technion’s Sustainability Center and promotes many other areas for the contribution of academia under the climate crisis.
Prof. Rothschild was enthusiastic about the initiative and the interest the students showed in his research and invited them to his lab at the Technion to conduct an experiment to split water to create hydrogen. The visit was preceded by conversations held with the students on Zoom.
The visit to the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering included an introduction to the students and an opening lecture by Prof. Rothschild on the subject of: the climate crisis, renewable energies, splitting water and green hydrogen.
Dr. Anna Baritus, a researcher in Prof. Rothschild’s research group, accompanied the visit and the graduate students Matan Sananis and Avichai Ben-Shitrit presented the following experiments to the students in the laboratory:
1. Loading and discharge of nickel electrodes – with an emphasis on changes in the material itself during the process
2. Production of hydrogen using nickel electrodes
3. Generating electricity from hydrogen and oxygen using a fuel cell and a demonstration vehicle
4. Introducing a new process for the production of hydrogen developed in the laboratory
5. Experiment with air density versus water using a vacuum pump
We were delighted to host the students in Prof. Avner Rothschild’s lab at the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering and were very impressed by the interest and enthusiasm of the students to explore and study the subject of energy and the possible solutions for the production of green electricity from renewable energy sources, for the development of a more sustainable environmental future and we wish them good luck in the competition!!
