East Lyme High School, East Lyme CT
Tour offshore windfarms and interview various stakeholders in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and England to inform student attitudes on the topic and promote critical thinking about their community, where their energy comes from, and how that will change over their lifetime.
Visiting the Varndean School to interview UK students about offshore wind energy. The Rampion Wind Farm powers their town (Brighton, England) and school.
Visiting the New Bedford Whaling Museum to explore the history and culture of whaling in New Bedford, MA
On a boat tour of the Rampion Wind Farm in Brighton, England. There are 116 turbines, with 400 MW capacity. The offshore substation can be seen in the background.
I visited the piers of New Bedford, MA, the #1 commercial fishing port in the U.S. This is also the staging ground for the Vineyard Wind Farm. There are blades and tower parts in the background.
Marina is a primary school educator in London that I met because she was staying in the same Youth Hostel as me. She showed me the Too Good To Go app, to decrease food waste, and we had dinner together.
My daughter, Scarlett, and I, prior to a helicopter tour of the Block Island, Rhode Island Wind Farm. There are 5 turbines, with a 30 MW capacity.
I walked through the Varndean School, visited their school rabbits, and interviewed students regarding their ideas about offshore wind energy. Their film person recorded the meeting for me. This experience was powerful because people I didn't know well invited me into their space. I walked by wind turbine design projects, talked to students from another country, and met a dedicated teacher, Charlie, who was willing to support students and teachers in their learning. I loved their open hearts.
I learned that I get anxious prior to traveling alone internationally. I learned that I am capable of navigating myself in new places. I excel at meeting strangers and finding common ground. I thrive on learning new things. People like sharing their ideas, yet become hesitant when I ask if that information can be documented or recorded. I'm surprised that in a world that seems to be so quick to post ideas and images that there is also apprehension when it comes to sharing our thoughts.
The unplanned or unexpected experiences I had were forming great, deep, meaningful connections with complete strangers. I thought it might be possible, but I didn't realize how much humanity craves connection. I also fell in love with street art in every place I visited. I ended up touring the Block Island Wind Farm by helicopter, trying to see the turbines from various perspectives literally, which was unplanned.
I am going to create a story map that describes the wind farms I visited and contains the stories of people that I have interviewed regarding their ideas about offshore wind energy and how we meet our future energy demands. In addition, I will pose questions for students to answer after they have explored the story map.
1) Students will explore the story map that I made to learn about the energy produced from offshore windfarms and listen to stories from people regarding their attitudes toward offshore wind. 2) Students will learn about the history of using wind as energy and compete to design the turbine blades to see who can produce the most energy.
Community members are invited to be a part of my 21st Century Science class. Students can ask anyone that has a role in energy (hint: everyone!) to visit our classroom as a guest speaker to share their ideas about energy and energy consumption. I use my experience as a Fund for Teachers Fellow to encourage my colleagues to find something to nourish their own learning. We are educators because we are lifelong learners, yet it is so easy to get caught up in all of the required tasks of teaching.