Queen Elizabeth II High School
We completed the Will Wind Work Pod activity. I had read about
other schools having wind turbines, and it was also being mentioned
in the local news as a possibility for the Isle of Man to have wind
turbines. As it was a topical issue on the island, I thought it
would be a good project to do. The aim was for the youngsters to
learn about wind as an alternative power source and see if the
school grounds were a good site for a wind turbine.
Action
The project was undertaken in enrichment week, for year 7 pupils
to voluntarily participate in. I arranged for our local weather
forecaster (operational meteorologist) to run a session, and sent
him the information from the Pod website on Will Wind Work. He
spent a day with the students and brought equipment from Ronaldsway
met office, including hand held anemometers, a weather balloon and
a fishing rod with balloons. The students did various experiments
around the grounds.
The students also had the chance to design windmills drawn from
the 3-legs of Mann (Manx Flag). The windmills were planted in a
flower bed to make a feature. The students were given a chance to
research wind turbines and provided with questions to answer, e.g.
about costs etc.
Challenges
Without the equipment from Ronaldsway Met Office, the children
would not have been able to take measurements and would not have
had the hands-on experience. Having somebody very knowledgeable to
work with the children was fantastic
Pupil leadership
Pupils were able to take it in turns to use an anemometer to
record wind speed at various locations on the school grounds. They
got to see a weather balloon and record its movement. They also
took turns with the fishing rod at various locations - helium
balloons were attached to the line so pupils could measure wind
turbulence.
All of the students had access to computers to do research and
write their own blogs.
Resources
I used the Pods resources and lesson plan for guidance.
The students liked putting up their own blogs, and we also put
photos in the gallery.
Mr Young, the meteorologist, helped to run the project with
resources from the Ronaldsway Met office.
Staff supported the project by making templates for the children
to make windmills. Canes for the windmills were donated by the
gardening club, while paint, crayons and scissors were provided by
the Art Department.
Local community
The Department of Infrastructure supported by paying the
meteorologist to work with us and providing the equipment.
Result
36 children were involved in the project and have learned about
wind turbines.
The students found the best place to build a wind turbine was in
the middle of the cricket pitch. They learned how to measure wind
speed, as well as the importance of other factors such as
turbulence, in placing a turbine. The figures recorded were wind
speeds at various locations around the school.
They were able to improve on their personal, learning and
thinking skills. Problem solving skills were used to find the best
locations, while independent enquiry skills were employed by doing
their own research on wind turbines. Creative thinking was required
to design the windmills for the garden display.
The students seemed to enjoy project and are more aware of
alternative energy.
Lessons learned
If you can get help from a meteorologist and the equipment to do
hands-on project work, it will be a memorable activity for young
people.The children felt they were undertaking meaningful
experiments.
Next steps
We are about to start the Bug Hotel activity.