OSWEGO, N.Y. -- It may be summer, but at SUNY Oswego, class is in session. And area science and technology teachers are the ones trying to learn.

The group of 20 is on campus this week for the university's Energy Institute, a two week program focused on environmental issues and the best ways to teach them in the classroom.

"We want to make sure that the students leave here infused with the attitude that this is an important topic and encourage their students in their classrooms to take it seriously," said SUNY Oswego Energy Institute Co-Director Tom Kubicki.

"I think it's helping to get the issues and the knowledge out to students, which they're the future generation. They're most important. They're going to be the ones that have to face our decisions today," said SUNY Oswego junior Michael Petrone.

The topic on Tuesday was wind turbines. The teachers made their own models. Just one of the many experiments they've done in the last week.

"We've done solar cookers, we've made insulometers. We have made a solar car which can replace batteries and run on solar, with also reducing carbon footprint," said middle school technology education teacher Joseph Graves.

In addition to showing teachers interesting ways they can talk about environmental issues in the classroom, the energy institute is also a great way to showcase the technology program here at SUNY Oswego.

"The science and math teachers that are in the program are probably unaware of what we have here on the college campus. They may know what the technology program is at their home school, but this is the largest technology preparation program and the oldest one in the nation," said Kubicki.

The school hopes to make the summer teachers workshop an annual event.