The wind is all around us: let’s make electricity (LS-PT-94)
Main goal
This learning scenario aims to develop scientific and technological literacy. It can be used by students who have never tried Europeana before. It was implemented with 10th-grade students, with an average age of 15 years.
Lead-in
These students will have national exams eventually; therefore it is important for them to develop scientific and technological literacy. They are students with some experience in the use of technology and who make use of technology when they study, do research and present their work individually or as a group.
Step-by-step procedure
When we use Europeana for the development of planned activities, we typically select images and posters as resources. Others, such as news, videos or documentaries, can also be selected. Less typical resources can be personal books or calendars with annotations referring to a more specific theme.
The students began by visiting the Europeana platform to get familiar with the platform and contextualize themselves in the work that they will develop. Then they watched the video on the evolution of the use of wind energy throughout history. They were then divided into 3 workgroups (4-5 students per group) to explore 3 topics: Wind, the present and the future of wind energy. We suggested that they search for images and videos on Europeana on one of these 3 topics. In each group, we assigned a role to each student; a team secretary, a presenter, and content developers for the final video. The discussion within each group was promoted in order to have the best contents appear in the film to be developed.
Final product
The secretaries and presenters of each team met to discuss how to link the various films to each other, in a way that they would make sense in terms of the historical evolution of wind energy from the past to the future. The films were developed and detailed, covering the various historical, social and technological aspects of the use of wind energy, making a thematic analysis of the current use of wind energy and its impact on the consumption of electricity.
In conclusion, students expressed interest in the Europeana platform. One challenging point was to identify resources for science and technology topics. Nevertheless, Europeana can especially help in exploring the historical evolution of scientific and technological concepts. Looking at the history of scientific concepts helps to develop a critical view of scientific knowledge, and while also contributing to the preservation and dissemination of cultural heritage.
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