Justin and Aaron Tan speak to Red Deer students and the G. W. Smith Elementary School on February 15. (G.W. Smith Elementary School Instagram)

By Alessia Proietti

Mini Microbial Fuel Cell Olympics

Generating electricity from mud: students at Red Deer Public Schools participate in unique project

Feb 22, 2024 | 12:51 PM

Roughly 85 students at the Red Deer Public Schools Division (RDPSD) are participating in the Mini Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) Olympics, a unique project around an emerging alternative energy source to generate electricity from mud.

On February 15, Grade 5 students at the Glendale School and G.W. Smith Elementary School put together various MFCs in their classrooms to experiment with the new sustainable and renewable energy source that is being studied worldwide.

The project was started in 2022 by two Calgary brothers named Aaron and Justin Tan, in Grade 10 and 8 respectively. In a nutshell, the anode (negative end) of a battery (a cell), is put into the bottom of a plastic beaker the size of a soda can. It is connected by a wire to a cathode (positive end) with an LED light attached to it. Filling the beaker with soil, the oxygen-poor environment will cause microbes to grow on sugar and other nutrients, releasing electrons. As the bacteria multiply over time, the anode will become covered with a biofilm and act as an electron receptor to send electricity to the light.

An MFC made at G.W. Elementary School in Red Deer. (G.W. Smith Elementary School Instagram)

After winning the Ten Peaks case competition in Red Deer for their MFC Olympics science project, the Tan brothers were asked by Nate Siler, Curriculum Coordinator of Science at RDPSD, to share the idea with their Grade 5 students who are currently implementing the optional science curriculum created in 2023.

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The new curriculum focuses on alternative energy sources in Grade 5 and explores the pros and cons of these sources in Grade 6.

Siler said the project is a great way for students to learn about the scientific method, which consists of seven steps: Question, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Data Analysis, Conclusion, and Communication.

He says each of their MFCs will test a different control, which can range from water, orange juice, milk, and Gatorade, to see which one over the next two months has produced more electricity, measured by the blinking of the LED light.

Siler says he has already seen the project lead students to question where their current energy comes from and if this can one day create energy for farms and cities.

“It just shows that true idea that they’re two people [Justin and Aaron] that want to have a positive environmental impact upon the minds of the future. I hope some of our students will see them as exemplars and say ‘maybe one day I’ll be a person who has a positive environmental impact by influencing other people in various ways’,” he said.

The project is free for schools to participate.

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