Elaine Loft, Staff Writer
In late January, Department Chair Mary Ann Watt brought her Environmental Science classes to the Hooksett Hydro Station for an up close view of a dam, powerhouse and a hydroelectric turbine/generator. The tours were facilitated by Shannon Ames, the Executive Director of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute, who manages the station. The Hooksett Station was completed in 1927. A downstream fish passage sluice was installed in 1988.
In this class, students begin the term modeling how turning on the lights in their home or classroom impacts the global air temperature. From there, they learn about the structure, composition, and role of Earth’s atmosphere, and how it has changed as a result of human influence. Students explore the origins and impacts of fossil fuels, greenhouse gasses, and different methods of generating electricity. Potential solutions or mitigation strategies for climate change are discussed. The term culminates in a student-designed climate action project, where students connect with the broader community to raise awareness and instigate change. Honors students are expected to read primary scientific literature and current events related to the course topics, and present their findings to the class.
Leading up to the field trip, students were able to work with “electricity stations,” borrowed from the NH/VT Energy Education Project. Experimenting with hand-cranked and model hydro generators in the classroom better prepared them to ask informed questions during their tour of the Hooksett station. After the visit, the students were given four questions to answer in depth, incorporating evidence from their site visit, charts and graphs observed, class discussion and other sources as needed. Lydia Taylor ’25 summarized:
“Through day 2 station 3, I came to realize that the Wi-Fi router was much more energy efficient than an electric tea kettle: the Wi-Fi router used 2.4 watts of electricity and the tea kettle used 1366 watts. Additionally, TVs also require a lot of energy, even if they aren’t actively being used; they consume a lot of ghost energy. Essentially, different household appliances, like anything, require more energy than others, and some appliances will inherently use more electricity than others, making them more or less energy efficient.”
