(NAPSA)—Teaching tomorrow’s leaders of industry today about the importance of energy, the environment and fuel cell technology: That’s the goal of a unique science program for young students, sponsored by experts in the automotive and educationfields. Called “,” it’s a free educational program, distributed to schools nationwide, that teaches fifth- through eighth-grade students about how hydrogen fuel cells are being developed to meet future energy needs. The program is sponsored by General Motors (GM) and developed by Weekly Reader. GM is the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer and global automotive sales leader. Weekly Reader is the nation’s leading classroom periodical. The program meets the national science education standards for grades five to eight. The curriculum focuses on energy, technology and the environment. Specifically, it explores the transfer of energy, a physical science requirement; and it addresses the personal and social perspectives of populations, resources, environments and theeffects of science and technology on society. Students use the history of the automobile to learn important energy vocabulary words. They observe hydrogen fuel cell technology through a water-electrolysis experiment that breaks water down into the separate elements @ of hydrogen and oxygen. And, finally, they compare the energy consumption and environmental effect of fuel cells versus the internal combustion engines andfossil fuels used today. The program is an easy-to-use, entirely self-contained curriculum package with a teacher’s guide, student activities and posters. Students first experimented with these concepts when GM’s “Tech Tour for Students” traveled to key cities across the U.S. GM fuel cell program executive and former NASA shuttle commander, Ken Cameron, taught middle school students about the principles of fuel cell technology and had them participate in the assembly of a hydrogen fuel cell modelcar. “” and “Tech Tour for Students” are part of GM’s broader K-12 environment, energy and technology education program, which strives to enlighten and educate children about the important issues that could affect their futures. To learn more about GM’s education initiatives, visit GM’s corporate social responsibility Web site www.gmability.com. Teachers can download the curriculum from the site at http://www.gm.com/com pany/gmability/environment/gm_ and_the_env/env_edu/weekly_read er_091302.html. Elementary and middle school students can log on to www.earth troop.com for fun, engaging and educationalactivities.
