Culminating Activity 1 (for younger students) Suggested Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5 Intermediate, grades 6–8
Background Students have, by this point, learned about wind formation, observing the wind, how to harness the wind’s energy, how to choose a turbine and appropriately site it, and how wind energy can offset their electricity consumption. This activity asks students to become the energy planner for their school and pick the best site for a turbine, and prepare resources to educate the school community on the benefits of the installation, the purpose for choosing the location, and to address the concerns they anticipate the community might have. This activity serves to compile the information students have worked on in previous activities and may be better suited for younger students who require more structure and who may not possess the math skills to have completed some of the other activities in the guide. Based on the students you are working with, you may select the number of tasks they should complete from the list, the type of product they should produce for each task, and how they are grouped to complete the tasks. You may also choose to add tasks to the list.
Objectives Students will be able to educate others about wind energy benefits. Students will be able to locate the best area for a school’s wind turbine installation.
Materials Internet access or access to local data Wind measurement tools Culminating Activity Checklist, page 56
Procedure 1. Select tasks students will complete from the checklist. Decide what each work sample should look like for each task and prepare additional checklists for students, should more scaffolding be required. Objectives can be added or subtracted depending on the student population you are working with. 2. Split the students into groups to encompass multiple abilities and skills. 3. Explain to students that they will work together to plan for and educate the community on a wind installation at their school. When projects like this are taken on, it often requires that teams work on several varying tasks and compile them together. They will complete each of the tasks you have selected to piece together a presentation for their school community. 4. Check in on students and assign due dates for each selection if necessary. Ask that students share their work samples with the class at the end. 5. Evaluate the unit with your students using the evaluation form on page 75 and return it to NEED.
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