VIENNA — Jackson Middle School seventh graders got a chance Tuesday to learn how solar cells are used to charge batteries in the manufacturing industry.

Sponsored by BHE Renewables of Ravenswood, students learned from hands-on lessons that focused on how circuitry can be controlled by the presence or absence of light through phototransistors, how resistance affects current and how energy can be stored for later use in manufacturing.

“This is something that needs to be covered in middle school,” said Dr. Angela McDaniel, program coordinator at the WVU STEAM Technical Assistance Center. “Because it’s not only a CTE (career technical education) standard, but an important aspect of our future.”