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Any time I come across an opportunity to provide students with hands-on learning experiences that integrate several different subjects, relate to real-world issues, and give them a chance to develop true problem-solving and critical thinking skills, I (like pretty much every other teacher I know) immediately start looking at how I can implement them in my classroom as soon as possible. Lately, however, it has been the students who have been coming up and asking me if we can do different projects, and last week one student proposed the idea of combining the electricity unit they had been working on, our robotics kits, and our recent focus on alternative energy together to create a classroom wind turbine. Being a huge geek, my imagination immediately went into overdrive and I started exploring the possibility. As luck would have it, it only took me about two minutes to find these: http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/simple_and_motorized_mechanisms_base_set/2068 http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/renewable_energy_add_on_set/2101 http://www.legoeducation.us/eng/product/renewable_energy_activity_pack/1969 Now Legos are fun and all, but what about a genuine class creation? A real, authentic invention that the students could build and call their own? After making a plan to acquire these kits and introduce my students to renewable energy technology, I wanted to continue to explore how we could take this type of activity to the next level. For those who may be interested in doing the same, there is a nice little organization called KidWind that is helping educators with exactly this kind of undertaking. Attached are a few PowerPoint presentations that provide an overview of what they have to offer.

Attachments

Wind_Education_101.ppt (8.42 Mb)

Wind_Education_101.ppt (8.42 Mb)

Wind_Turbine_Design.ppt (2.01 Mb)

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Michael, Thank you for sharing this information. I am creating a unit right now that has to do with alternative energy and found these sources to be very useful. I also like the Lego source you put up. That is a great way to get students interested in the subject by using something that is familiar to them. Thanks, Jamilynn

Thank you Micheal for posting the KidWind and Lego Education resources. I have inquired in the past about lessons for alternative energy. I am a 21st Century Enrichment Teacher. The 21st Century Enrichment program is an afterschool program that specifically targets the students that are on the cusp. Since January, we have discussed the importance of energy, and the preconceptions of what energy is exactly. Many of the students thought that it was gas and electricity, and did not understand that energy is all around us. We talked about how we use gas to produce energy to move a vehicle, and how gas prices are increasing every day. We looked at data, and compared Hawaii (where we live) to the mainland and why it may cost more in certain places than others. Then we moved onto the idea of renewable energy and alternative energy. That is where our wind turbine experiment took flight. We first had the students’ research on what a wind turbine is, and what it looks like. From there the students were able to get a better sense as to how they were going to design their own wind turbines. Each student wanted to create the fastest wind turbine. After completing the experiment and looking at the other team’s turbines, the students were able to improve their design. All-in-all the students had fun, but I appreciate you sharing KidWind. I feel that the next time I do this project I will utilize this resource as we go through the process.

I was recently doing some research associated with my own ancestry and the history of a place called “Doggerland” that was flooded at the end of the last ice age. In the midst of watching some documentaries on how the increase in sea level completely changed the lifestyle of my ancestors, I realized that there was a profound lesson from this period of history that is extremely important for our students now to understand. This also helped me to see how we can bring together other lessons from history with science and technology to create insightful integrated units. As Jacqueline pointed out, it makes sense to first instill the idea that energy is all around us, talk about the repercussions of using fossil fuels, and then go into alternative energy sources. It may also be beneficial to illustrate how climate has affected civilizations in the past before going into alternative/renewable energy, as this will further assist students in their understanding of why this knowledge is so important and how it applies to their own lives. In making connections between past events and the present, it’s useful to use our understanding of science and technology to look at recent discoveries, research, and what the repercussions of our actions will mean for us personally. For those in Hawaii, it may be helpful to show just how much the rise in sea level is going to impact our home (see attached pictures and the following links): Honolulu: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/3ftHonoluluTour.html Maui: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/MauiBlueLineTour.html Oahu: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/OahuBlueLineTour.html Kauai: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/KauaiBlueLineTour.html Let us not forget that in Hawaii, we have large populations from other islands in the Pacific as well as places like Japan, Okinawa, the coastal regions of China and Southeast Asia, Taiwan, the Phillipines, etc., all of which will undergo similar changes. The National Geographic Society has also produced a vase array of highly-engaging documentaries, presentations, and photo galleries to bring the past to life and to compliment the eye-opening affects of an increase in sea level, including this one of the Mississippi River Delta: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090629-mississippi-river-sea-levels.html The message communicated when these connections are made is clear: we must adapt, or our livelihoods will be greatly endangered. For teachers in the upper grades, further connections can be made to battles over resources – both in the past and in the present. Needless to say, bridges to an array of other content areas and topics can be built relatively easily.

Attachments

WaikikiIPCC.jpg (2.34 Mb)

art1b_large.jpg (0.16 Mb)

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/3ftHonoluluTour.html (External Website)

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/BlueLineTour.html (External Website)

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/waikiki.html (External Website)