(Oct. 26) –Two men worked together to bring a large solar panel into a classroom at Prairie Middle School in Aurora, Colo., Tuesday morning, while teacher Susan Ekblade asked a group of gifted kindergarteners and first graders what they knew about solar power.

“The sun is really hot,” Jingui said with his hand stretched above his head. “The center of it is the hottest part, and you’ll die if you’re even a hundred feet away from it.”

That’s right, Ekblade said. The sun is hot.

“The sun is also always out,” said Noah. “Even if you can’t see it, it just means it’s on the other side of the Earth, and that’s how the moon shines. It’s like a mirror.”

Also right, Ekblade said, marveling a little at how much these 5- and 6-year-old children know about the universe.

Another boy, Colin, pointed out that the Earth rotates around the sun while spinning on its own axis. He and Noah demonstrated for their classmates with Noah standing still in the center and Colin pirouetting around him.

“This is what the sun does,” he said, stumbling a little from dizziness.

The students, participating in a special extra-curricular program called Inside Out that brings lessons from the outside world into the classroom during breaks like this week’s fall break, were about to learn even more about what the sun can do.

Chris Hamilton and Ben Jones from Vibrant Solar agreed to bring their solar panel and some cool solar gadgets with them into Ekblade’s class to teach kids about the growing solar industry.

Jones asked the students what they knew about energy and electricity and where it came from. Many said the electricity comes from power plants, and some even knew about coal.

Jones showed the students a picture of clean and “dirty” energy production and asked students what they thought might be wrong with the “dirty” coal-burning, and other fossil fuel-reliant energy sources.

Several students raised their hands to say the old, “dirty” technology was ruining our air.

Jones agreed and added that the danger is that we will eventually run out of coal and oil if we keep digging it out from the ground to burn for energy.

“And then we won’t be able to watch TV anymore,” one boy said from the floor.

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Pictured: Ben Jones showcasing one of Vibrant Solar's panels for the students.