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Wind for Schools at Show Low Junior High

KidWind Challenge (2017)

STEM city stories

“On November 13th, three schools competed in the second ever KidWind Challenge wind turbine design competition. Little Singer Community School, Coconino High School and Northland Preparatory Academy arrived with a total of 14 teams eager and ready to compete.”…(continue reading)

“On Friday, April 28th, nearly 100 middle and high school students competed in the first Arizona KidWind Challenge wind turbine design competition. 20 teams of students came from Sinagua Middle School, Mount Elden Middle School, STAR School, Winslow High, Coconino High, and Northland Preparatory Academy. The teams brought a wind turbine they had designed and built ahead of time to test in a wind tunnel, determining whose turbine made the most electricity over a 30-second test period. The teams also competed based on their turbine design, technical presentation, technical design knowledge, and general wind energy knowledge. The teams each met with a group of judges from the wind industry, giving a presentation about their project and answering specific design and knowledge questions…” (continue reading)

KidWind Challenge media galleries

2016-2017

Upward Bound

The Arizona Wind for Schools project partnered with the NAU’s Upward Bound programs and the Willow Bend Boys & Girls Club summer camp in June to teach young students about wind energy while, introducing them to basic energy, through hands-on engineering design activities.

Wind for Schools worked with Upward Bound’s summer program to engage high school students in learning about wind energy, energy physics, electronics and economics. Twenty-one high school soon-to-be juniors, from across Northern Arizona, built windmills, performed an economic assessment of the energy usage of their homes and classrooms, and calculated the available energy in food products before testing out a bicycle generator. The students, who spent five weeks on NAU’s campus this summer learning about climate change and energy science and engineering, participated in these activities as part of a special partnership between the Wind for Schools program and Upward Bound. Fourteen students in the Upward Bound math/science academy also worked with Wind for Schools to build windmills and learn basics about wind energy.

In particular, while researching and analyzing various forms of renewable energy, students had the opportunity to move away from the theoretical and put their knowledge to work. Students were given a task, a collection of materials from which to build, and work time.

“It was a powerful experience seeing students working together, going through iterations in their design, and completing the assigned task,” said Jacob Lesandrini, instructional specialist for Upward Bound at NAU. “Students not only had to have the background knowledge in renewable energy, but they also had to understand how to tackle a problem and work in a team. It’s exactly the sort of work they can expect in college and beyond, and we were very excited they had this opportunity.“

Wind for Schools project director Karin Wadsack and mechanical engineering undergraduate student Tessa Palazzolo worked with the high school students over the course of several lessons and activities.

Summer 2017 Upward Bound media gallery

Students build windmills with the Arizona Wind for Schools program

The Wind for Schools project also organized an “energy engineering career night” featuring four presenters, which was attended by 48 high school students.

Middle School students from the Boys & Girls club attending summer camp at Willow Bend Environmental Education Center also built windmills and learned about wind energy from Wind for School staff.

The Wind for Schools project is funded by a grant from the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

For more information about the Wind for Schools program, contact Karin Wadsack, State Facilitator, at 928-523-0715 or Karin.Wadsack@nau.edu.

Check it out! We are also featured on Flagstaff’s STEM City blog , Dynamic and Active Systems and Arizona Wind for Schools.