Science Shorts: Wind at Work

I chose this article to add to my collection of resource articles because it was about alternative energy. Students need to learn about alternative energy and how it can help and affect the ... See More

I chose this article to add to my collection of resource articles because it was about alternative energy. Students need to learn about alternative energy and how it can help and affect the environment. After reading the article, I learned how a wind turbine works. I also learned that one wind turbine needs about two acres of land and can produce enough electricity for about 400 homes a year. I would use the information from this article to create a lesson for alternative energy using the TEKS 5.7(C). Based on my experience, I have helped students build wind turbines and investigate wind energy. I agree with the article on how students can explore the concepts of wind energy and how the lesson can connect students to real-world solutions.

The E in STEM

The activity described in this article is a design challenge which would be a great engineering opportunity for a STEM group. The author describes it as understanding variables but it can b... See More

The activity described in this article is a design challenge which would be a great engineering opportunity for a STEM group. The author describes it as understanding variables but it can be so much more. Students build and test a prototype model of a wind turbine and then design a ‘better’ one. The evaluation is a discussion about the revisions students made to the prototype. This is a very good way to introduce variables and to introduce the design element as well.