Glenwood Junior High students make their own functional wind turbines

May 4, 2017 at 12:08a.m.

BOARDMAN

Turning wind into electricity is no small feat, so it’s surprising to see seventh- and eighth-graders practicing this science in school.

Glenwood Junior High’s science teachers started their first year for the Kid Wind Challenge, challenging students to design and build their own wind turbines. Eric Diefenderfer, a science teacher, spearheaded the project after he found out about the challenge through Austintown Middle School’s STEM program seventh-grade project. Diefenderfer said the project is a good way to educate students on energy transfers, a subject that is part of the seventh-grade content standards. He also said the project puts an emphasis on scientific inquiry, which the project brings out in students as they begin to plan their designs.

“I’m hoping this develops them into becoming problem-solvers and using their critical-thinking skills,” he said.

Students spend two weeks on their project, the first week researching examples of wind turbines online and designing prototypes for their turbines in the classroom. The next week, the students start building their designs in the science lab, most made from cardboard and wood. The students then gather data on the amount of voltage output or weight movement to calculate their wind turbine’s energy efficiency.

The Kid Wind Challenge is a wind-energy learning experience for students where middle- and high-school students around the country explore the science and benefits of wind energy, according to the website at kidwindchallenge.org. Since 2009, the Kid Wind Challenge Event has been successfully implemented in 17 states.

Each month, the site allows teams to enter their data and two classes from the school will submit data for the May competition. The other two classes will finish their projects in the following weeks and submit their data next month.

Diefenderfer said he didn’t want to take all the attention from his fellow teachers and Tim Harker, the Glenwood technology teacher who helped implement the project in Glenwood Junior High.

“This project wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for all five of us getting together and starting the grant project,” he said.

In order to get the Kid Wind Challenge to the school, Diefenderfer had to raise a lot of money for the materials and tools. All four science teachers, Whitney Reasch, Shannon Carchedi, Andrea Kratzer and Diefenderfer were awarded a mini-grant from the Boardman Schools Fund for Educational Excellence for the project.

Carter Mascola, a seventh-grader in Kratzer’s class, said he learned a lot from his group’s project. Cutting the wood for the turbine’s propellers was his group’s greatest challenge.

“It was very fun to make a wind turbine,” he said. “It was a neat thing to do.”