Ongoing Activity: Collecting Weather and Wind Turbine Data Suggested Grade Levels Elementary, grades 3-5 Intermediate, grades 6–8 Secondary, grades 9–12
Objective Students will be able to gather real-time data and analyze how weather impacts the electrical output of a wind turbine.
Materials Internet access Skystream master, page 23 Collecting Weather and Wind Turbine Data worksheet, page 24, for each student Data Collection chart, page 25 Spreadsheet software (optional)
2 Preparation Data collection is an important part of this unit. Decide when in your unit you would like students to start collecting data. You should also decide the length of time you would like students to collect data. It is recommended that you collect data for a minimum of two weeks. Make copies of the Data Collection chart for as many weeks as you select. You may also choose to create your own spreadsheet for data entry and analysis. It can easily mirror the one within the guide, or reflect data points you select. Students can also create their own graphs for analysis from the spreadsheet. Consider assigning a student or group of students the responsibility of collecting data from your own school’s turbine (if you have one). It can be enriching to incorporate and analyze your own turbine’s data, as it is so close to home. It can also lead to interesting discussions about siting and output, when comparing your local turbine to that of others on the website.
Procedure 1. Divide the students into small groups. Assign each group a turbine location to study from the Wind for Schools Portal. Show students the master on page 23 describing sample specifications for turbines like those they will be studying. 2. Have students work in their groups to first learn about the geography and topography of the local and regional area where their turbine is located. Students can use an atlas, map, or internet mapping sites to find this information. Students record their findings on the Collecting Weather and Wind Turbine Data worksheet. Example mapping sites include: https://www.google.com/earth/; and https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/?basemap=b1&category=ustopo&title=US%20Top%20Download. 3. Discuss the additional directions for collecting data using the Collecting Weather and Wind Turbine Data worksheet. Students need to collect data every day at the same time and record it in the chart you have selected for their use. 4. When the collection period has ended, students should create presentations and share their findings with their peers. 5. With the class, discuss the differences in turbine output and what factors led to the highest electricity generation.
Note You may decide to have multiple classes collect data on the same turbines, or have students collect data as homework, so you will have data from multiple times that students can analyze. Collecting data at different times of the day or year will allow for daily and seasonal analyses as well.
Extension S ave the raw data each year and build a database that future students can use to analyze and make comparisons from year to year. ©2017 The NEED Project
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