Students venture 600 feet below Bad Creek

High school science teacher Sherry East gained credibility with students by wading through Howard’s Creek to collect aquatic insects. She ventured 600 feet below the surface of Duke Energy’s Bad Creek hydroelectric plant to learn about the Earth’s fault zone and took an up-close view of the predators found around the Oconee County facility. The hands-on educational activities are part of a graduate-level course Clemson University offers at Duke Energy’s Bad Creek Outdoor Classroom. The Duke Energy Foundation agreed to sponsor the course again in 2017, offering 16 K-12 teachers an opportunity to complete a graduate-level course and leave with lesson plans to incorporate into their classroom instruction. Duke’s contribution covers tuition, course materials and supplies, food and lodging for students who need to stay on campus. Barbara Speziale, biological sciences professor, developed the course with Duke Energy in 2012 to help teachers better understand the interactions between energy production and the environment. The short, intensive course includes one week of online training, a week of field study at the Bad Creek Outdoor Classroom and a week for participants to complete lesson plans for their classrooms.