Wind at Work

 

This week at After School To-Go, students continued to learn about alternative sources of energy! As Wind Energy Engineers, girls worked together to design, build, and test a wind turbine’s ability to lift a load.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To prepare for their activity, groups made a list of wind-powered objects, like balloons, fans, and pinwheels. Students hypothesized that moving air can do work and generate electricity or lift heavy loads! To test their hypothesis, girls worked together in small groups to design a wind turbine made of various materials, like skewers, foam, cork, and string. Each group decided on the number of blades their turbine would have, as well as the angle of each blade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groups tested their turbine’s ability to lift a cup of paperclips by timing the process. Some groups found that their turbines quickly lifted the paperclip load, but other groups observed that their turbines required more time. Each group made modifications, based on student conclusion that a greater number of blades is directly correlated to an increased lifting speed. Girls learned that wind energy creates mechanical energy, which can generate electrical energy and move heavy objects!

 

 

Food Chains and Food Webs

 

In continuing the learning about the role science plays in the environment, the girls took the role of ecologists and explored the relationship between plants, animals, and the environment. They explored the flow of energy through an ecosystem and the impact humans can have through various activities. 

 

 

The class started by each girl receiving a name tag with a certain animal and its characteristics listed. Some received common animals while others discovered new types of predators and prey. Girls learned definitions such as omnivore, consumer, producer, etc. The girls then stood up if they believed their animals fell under that certain category. After knowing the definitions and where their animals fell, the girls jumped into a game of BINGO in which they had to have another girl sign the box that represented their type of animal. The girls buzzed around excitedly until someone yelled out “BINGO” and in unison “awwwww” was heard.

 

 

Following, the girls competed and coordinated to see who could build the longest food chain with their animal name tags. During this activity the girls applied the vocabulary they learned and you could hear them saying “we need a producer” or “we need more prey.” Some girls even took it a step further and created a food web instead and were able to show how species interact in an ecosystem. To seal their learning, the girls played a game of predator-prey tag. The girls were categorized into grasshoppers, spiders, birds, and toads. They then went outside and through the game, were able to see what occurred when the number of prey and predators increased and when they decreased. The activity finished by the girls coming up with predictions of what causes the fluctuation in number of prey and predators in an ecosystem and how humans cause this and how they can help fix these issues in the future as ecologists!