Gerry and Amanda were curious about Ben’s family.  They knew he was a member of the Dakota Native American Tribe and that some of his family lived on land known as a reservation. Ben explained that “the Dakotas live in North and South Dakota, of course, and other areas of the mid-west and Canada.  Some people call it the Great Plains. It used to have grass covering it. Now the Great Plains grows crops like corn, wheat and more.  There aren’t many trees to block the sunlight so solar energy is an excellent source of energy for the mid-west.”

Ben and Gerry told Amanda what they had found out about solar energy.  Ben decided he was going to help  his immediate family and his tribe too.  “How are you going to do that?” asked Gerry. Ben answered “I am going to get the solar array to work at our house and then bring the information to the reservation and find out how solar energy can help the tribe.” “How?”  Gerry asked? “If the tribe can put in a large enough solar array they could save money on their electric bills and maybe even sell some of the power to make money.”   Amanda said “Sunny and Ray said that we needed to use the sun more.  They were right.”

Gerry was searching on the internet and said “Ben, look here are some solar panels on the roofs of houses on the Yankton Indian Reservation!” Amanda said “Maybe they will help you Ben.”
What more can we do to better use the sun’s energy?  Remember use your imagination, sometimes wildest ideas work.  Ben Franklin flew a kite to discover electricity.