Classroom Materials
The "Poker Chip Model" activity, developed by Great Lakes Bioenergy, uses household items to help students understand where the majority of earth's carbon is located and how it moves from place to place.
Switchgrass Biomass Harvest
Fall brings harvest time for the GLBRC bioenergy crop trials at the UW-Madison Arlington Agricultural Research Station. Researchers harvest the standing biomass from the nine different model bioenergy cropping systems, including switchgrass, corn, miscanthus, and prairie.
Teaching Scientific Thought
GLBRC Education Researcher Joyce Parker explains some of the common misconceptions students have about matter and energy and encourages teaching "thinking" instead of "stuff."
Bioenergy Demonstration Gardens Audio Tour
A guided audio tour of the Bioenergy Demonstration Gardens located on the east side of the Wisconsin Energy Institute building grounds.
Short Cuts: What is Cellulose?
This is a short educational video that will soon be part of a growing series of videos explaining key terms related to renewable energy.
Life Cycle Assessment of Carbon in Biofuels
What's the "carbon footprint" for producing and using biofuels? This video walks you through the process of setting up an life cycle assessment of biofuels for carbon.
Ask an Expert - What is Biodiversity and Why is it Important?
Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) project area leader Doug Landis talks about biodiversity, why it's important, and why our researchers are looking at how it'll affect the biofuels industry as a whole.
Exploring Life Cycles of Fuels
This educational video compares how burning gasoline versus biofuels affects how much carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere. It also introduces some key considerations when evaluating whether a fuel is sustainable.
Life Cycle Assessment of Energy
How much "net" energy is gained through producing biofuels? This video walks you through the process of setting up an life cycle assessment of biofuels.
Meet the Scientist - Natalia De Leon
Dr. Natalia de Leon, GLBRC scientist, describes her research breeding corn for better biofuel production and explains how information learned from corn breeding can be applied to improve other bioenergy crops, such as switchgrass.
Bioprospecting and Biofuels - Connecting Classrooms with Bioenergy Research
Gina Lewin, microbiologist and biofuels researcher, describes how a classroom bioprospecting lab activity connects to ongoing investigations into the enzymes produced by the fungi in leaf-cutter an