A FLOATING CLASSROOM POWERED BY THE SUN 

Any electric boat owner can take his children or their schoolchums out for a cruise to learn about flora and fauna. But with the massive annual floods during the monsoon season in Bangladesh, for over a decade, the Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha organization operates a 56-vessel fleet of solar-powered floating schools, libraries, health clinics, solar workshops, and floating training centers year-round. In Pennsburg USA, the solar-electric 24ft pontoon boat Dragonfly I, the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy’s Floating Classroom operates at Aqua’s Green Lane Reservoir. Students participate in courses in watershed science, aquatic communities, ornithology, geology, and botany. The “classroom” is equipped with microscopes, iPads, Wifi, water quality testing supplies and other equipment that will aid students in their investigations. 600 miles away, at Harwich, Massachusetts, another 37ft solar-electric pontoon boat, Friend of Pleasant Bay is operation as a Floating Classroom Research Vessel (FCRV). Last but not least, the 49-footer solar-electric Firefly which brings students from Camden, NJ and along the Delaware River aboard for immersive, hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education) polyboatglobal.com applauds the FCRV initiative!