Sunday
Arrival! I had been up for over 28 hours when I walked up to the baggage area to see Student Argos Tim and Jackie waving to me. Argos are special people to me because they have taught me that students learn best when they can question. We were excited to hear we would be working with a researcher on CO2 sequestration as it seems to open up a door to lowering emissions into the atmosphere. I am also interested in terrestrial sequestration, will we learn about that?

Monday
Tonight we met with Host Researcher Larry Shadle and the team from the National Energy Technologies Laboratory (NETL). Larry talked to us about the current situation of energy in the world; its sources, demands, uses and environmental impacts. Larry quickly dispersed the boring scientist image with his effervescence, dynamic personality and intriguing presentation. He quickly sucked us into the world of energy

The demand for electricity and energy is huge, with many countries consuming more than they produce themselves. We all ask the question: why not just go green? Why not use renewable energy resources, foregoing any methods that impact negatively on the environment? This must be a frustrating question for researchers, electricity producers and governments worldwide because it must seem as hard as putting a camel through the eye of a needle.

Currently, using renewable resources cannot even remotely meet the world's demand - the world would literally stop. So, is using coal - while researching how to eliminate the harmful emissions - the way to go? Can it be a dual process of using clean fossil fuels and renewable energy in tandem? Argos definitely have a challenge in this Mission. Is the dual plan the key or does the world need to take the hard line of only using renewable energy sources?

Tuesday
Today was all about hands on fun. Getting to experiment and play drew the students into a co-operative learning circle. The students came alive as they did the discovery.

The magnets drew out the child in all of us - repelling magnets across the table and drawing patterns in the iron filings. For example we placed a piece of paper on top of a magnet and then shook iron filings on top. The iron filings displayed patterns that told us the story of electron attraction: the filings creating an arc between the poles, with the majority of them congregating at the poles. This taught us that the attraction was strongest at the poles.

We were creating a magnetic field in the middle of a coil of wire by moving a magnet in and out of the coil when BOOM, the students connected the concept of magnetic force to making electricity. The play allowed for learning to occur in a natural progression, as students hypothesized they could then trial their hypothesis, and either confirm their ideas or modify and build on them. Larry, the host researcher provided us with the accelerant to discovery.

The 'Beauty of Coal' became a major discussion point within the team. The energy we get from coal came from plants from long ago that received their energy from the sun many thousands of years ago. The light we get from a light in our house is sourced from the sun thousands of years ago.

Wednesday
B22… ssshhhhh! Secret lab! Today was very exciting for the Argos. We got to spend the day with the top researchers on cutting edge technology. We actually spent the day in the circulating fluidized bed building where Larry and co-workers are looking at extracting CO2 so that it can be sequestered in underground locations. We were going to look at the developing technologies to solve the problem of CO2 emissions, CO2 extraction & sequestration.

Researcher Joe Mei explained the fluidized bed model as a circular system. Much like mixing sand with water you get a system where they are still separate entities but the sand mixes with the water to act like a liquid. The waste from burning coal does a similar thing bonding with another substance to flow through the circular system. There is a funnel part of the system where heavier and lighter substances can be separated which hopefully will help us separate the actual CO2 so that is can be sequestered and not emitted into the Earth's atmosphere.

The researchers were amazing to work with and they all were eager to pass on their knowledge and get students around the world to become engaged in science and research. Larry stated that there are not many students going into scientific research, and yet research into energy will be the savior of our environmental future. We met Chris, who showed us how they study particles using glow-in-the-dark technology. Frank Schaffer, who previously worked on studying the brain showed us how he used his knowledge of high-speed cameras to track and study the movement of particles. When we can understand what is happening we then can begin to manipulate and create change.

We quickly learned that research is not a quick process. Researchers have been working on sequestration for many years. It is a viable option and is one of the best options that we can do something about. We can put time and research into this area. It will have a real impact. It is time we take action and not just discuss. If we sit and wait for one perfect magical answer to bring environmentally friendly energy creation it may not happen and may be to late. We need to look down all avenues, and now. I believe that the research team from NETL is revolutionary and will keep endeavoring to find the answers.

Q&A with Argo Melissa:

How has this Mission changed the way you think you'll teach your students?

This Mission helped me to discover that I go back to my classroom a different person. I will no longer ever be a "copy from the board" teacher. I will delve into the unknown not scared at my lack of knowledge but confident in the power of student inquiry learning where they can ask questions and explore. I will get my students doing hands on work and the work will be focused on relevant real life problems.

What do you think the JASON Project does for science instruction?

JASON provides teachers with the tools to give the science curriculum justice. It also opens up the real world to the students. It's not just copying information from a book that they could never relate to. JASON is about topics that are important today, that students have to face and do something about. They can see what they are learning about, experiment with it and hypothesize about it. For students that don't have a lot of opportunity for extra programs – or even students who don't see any one they know going into science – it opens up the gate of possibilities. They have another choice. One student in my class actually asked me: Can I do this JASON project?' That question was my YES moment: one of my kids is interested in science… one of my kids might want to be a scientist… to solve our energy crisis… WOW!