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Solar Energy Kit Recognized as a Top New Product

A new renewable energy kit and corresponding lab book have led Vernier Software & Technology to win another award from Tech & Learning, an education technology publication.

The KidWind Solar Energy Exploration Kit and the Investigating Solar Energy lab book won under the New Product category for the 34th annual Awards of Excellence. The specific category “recognizes innovative products that break new ground as well as those that have received significant enhancements,” according to a statement.

The kit (priced at $50) helps K–8 students investigate and understand energy transformations through hands-on experimentation. Students will, for example, “discover how the angle of photovoltaic panels relative to the sun affects power output” using a hinged plastic box, sound and light board, power output pack and other materials included in the kit.

The associated lab book (priced at $25) contains nine different experiments and two “culminating engineering projects” for student to develop solutions to real-word problems.

This is the second year in a row that one of Vernier’s renewable energy kits and lab books have won in the New Product category. Winners are chosen by educators who “are experts in their respective fields and have worked extensively with various software, web-based, hardware and network/server-based products,” according to Tech & Learning.

Further information about the new products is available on the Vernier site.

About the Author

Sri Ravipati is Web producer for THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

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