Activities
Day 1 The students will watch a phenomena video of a cold front. They will make observations. Then the class will create currents in a tub of water using warm water and cold water to model how currents (wind or water) work.
Day 2 Explore the power of wind with sail cars.
Day 3 Read, annotate, and conduct research on wind energy.
Day 4 Read, annotate, and conduct research on wind energy.
Day 5 Present information about wind energy. During presentation have students engage through discussion at certain points.
Day 6 Use Kid Wind Firefly mini turbines to experiment with different blades
Day 7 Use Kid Wind Firefly mini turbines to experiment with different blades
Day 8 Begin with images of hydroelectric pumped power (see Figure 2) and share an image of the duck curve. Present information about hydroelectric stored power plants. During presentation have students engage in discussion at certain points.
Day 9 Discuss pros and cons to the marine ecosystem.
Day 10 Guest speakers from Dominion Energy and energy lawyer
Day 11 Culminating project
Day 12 Culminating project
Day 13 Culminating project
Day 14 Culminating project
Day 15 Culminating project
Activity 1
The activity for Day 1 will begin by watching a short, time-lapsed video of a cold front. Students will make record notices and wonders. Then, the class will work in collaborative groups to explore currents. Fill a shoebox-sized, plastic tub with about 2 inches of cold water. Get two 3 fl. ounce paper cups. Poke a push pin through each one about ½ inch from the bottom. Leave the push pins in the cup. Add about 1 inch of hot water (from a faucet, so students cannot burn themselves) to one cup and about 1 inch of cold water to the other cup. Add red food coloring to the hot one and blue food coloring to the cold one. Place them in corners that are diagonally across from each other in the plastic tub. Students should pull out the push pins and record observations. After about ten minutes, or when water is no longer streaming out from the cups, students can either write or discuss a reflection/connection between the tub activity and the video of the cold front. This tub activity can be conducted a second time with hot water (not too hot that it could burn the children) in the tub instead of cold water. This activity models how changes in temperature cause currents. It also models how warm water or air rises and cold water or air sinks. The currents are not as strong when the water is closer to the same temperature.
Activity 2
For the Day 2 activity, students will build a sail car. Directions can be found with a quick Google search of KidWind or Instructables and sail car. The designs and the materials can be changed. I used a plastic foam core board for the base, wooden beads for the wheels, a straw and skewers for the axle, a dowel for the mast, and the students can choose either cellophane (acetate) squares, card stock, or foam for the sails. This can be done as an engineering design challenge. Provide materials and parameters and the students can race their cars either outside on a windy day or inside with a box fan. Sail cars lend themselves to many scientific investigations. It is recommended that only one variable is changed at a time. The shape of the sail or the material of the sail can be changed. If time is a restriction, the teacher can construct the base of the car, and the students can add the mast and the sail.
Activity 3
The Day 6 and Day 7 activity will use a class set of KidWind Fireflies. These are mini turbines that transform wind energy into electricity. Students can explore and conduct experiments using the blades provided or make their own blades. If Fireflies are not available, students can experiment with pinwheels that use different designs. There is a Science Buddies video that shows step by step how to make different types of pinwheels.
Activity 4
Day 8 begins with this short activity. Students will examine the pictures in Figure 2 which show water being pumped uphill for storage during the day and being released downhill at night. Ask the students why might solar or wind energy get stored during the day? Answers may include there may be a surplus of solar and wind energy during the day or there may be less people using energy during the daytime. Then find an image of the “Duck Curve.” I love the one with a yellow duck for fourth graders. Ask the students what they notice and what they wonder. Ask the students why the “belly” sags? Possible answers include there is more energy than needed or there is less demand. Why would the “belly” be from about 9AM-1PM? Answers may include the sun is shining and moving directly overhead and people are at work and not at home, so less electricity is being used in homes. There is more energy than is needed. Why would stored energy be released in the evening? Possible answers are that there is more demand or solar energy is not collected at night so stored energy is used. Why is there a sharp rise from the belly to the head of the duck? A possible explanation is that there is more demand when everyone is home at night. People are cooking, watching T.V., heating or cooling their house more, and using lights at night when it is dark. There is less energy available since solar is not being generated at night after the sun has set.
Activity 5
The culminating project (Days 11-15) will take about 5 days. The students will have to create a wind turbine. Ideally the wind would generate electricity, but with fourth graders, I’d be happy if the blades turn. I am planning to use Scratch coding and Bird Brain robotics kits, but the wind turbine can be created with everyday craft items. I also want the students to create an artificial reef at the base of the turbine. Students will not only have fun with this, but it will reinforce ocean ecosystems and show a benefit of the wind turbines beneath the ocean. I will ask my students to make at least one creature move in the ecosystem. Students will present their projects to the class.
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