Erin Molden teaches at Kettering Fairmont High School. She received distillation equipment from Ohio Corn & Wheat and Feed the World through our fall grant program. Here she shares about the excitement of using the equipment in the classroom:
Each school year my classes (Intro to Biotech, Junior Biotech Lab, Senior Biotech Lab) learn about Energy and Fuels as part of our Ag Biotech Unit. Students learn about fermentation in the Fermentation in a Bag lab.
This year my senior lab took on the challenge of upscaling the fermentation process. Thanks to the distillation kit provided by Feed the World, students were able to ferment their chosen feedstock and then set up the distillation apparatus. After completing the distillation process, students performed quality control tests and determined the percent ethanol in their samples.
It was exciting to see the results and I am happy to report that we had burnable fuel samples! The seniors were so excited about fermentation that we are now making sourdough starters to examine other types of fermentation. Thank you again for the support of our students!
