These rotating giants dominate the skyline, but is the energy generated worth all the disruption to the landscape and the expense incurred? And are children nowadays as “green” as people assume they are, or do they have a hard-nosed attitude to environmental issues?
Energy
Think of as many sources of energy as you can (oil, electricity, gas, food, wood, sun, wind and water power)? How do wind turbines work (wind rotates propellers which drive an electricity generator through shafts and gears)? How does modern life compare with primitive societies (most energy consumed by rich countries for transport, cooking, heating, air conditioning, cities polluted from millions of cars; simpler societies use carts, cycles, foot power)? Why develop alternative sources of energy (oil will eventually run out, trees should not be burned to extinction, coal is plentiful but puts soot and smoke into the atmosphere)?
Environment
Which types of energy are regarded as “clean” and which as “dirty” and why (burning oil and coal is dirty because it affects our atmosphere; water and wind are cleaner)? Are you aware of your own environment? For example, can you remember the colour of the wallpaper or paint in each room of your home; does the appearance of your school matter to you? How can ordinary people contribute to making a positive environment (look after home, garden, streets, dispose of waste properly)? Do you care about litter? Do you drop litter (be honest)? How would you improve your local environment; is there anything positive you, as a young citizen, can do?
Waste
Are we ruining our environment, a throw-away society, collecting more and more waste? What are the arguments for and against renewing your trainers regularly (for - new is efficient, safer, more up to date, keeps the economy buoyant; against - fashion dictates we scrap things that still function, accumulate rubbish)? What are the “cleaner” ways of waste disposal (sort rubbish into types, such as glass, paper, and so on, recycle, process materials on site instead of transporting them in lorries, use plants that extract toxins, avoid landfill)?
Writing
Imagine a Martian arrives on Earth in a massive field of windmills such as these. Describe (a) what heshe thinks they are and what they do, (b) your explanation to the Martian of what they are and how they work. Write an argument between someone who thinks these windmills are beautiful and someone who thinks they are ugly (or have a class discussion about it).
Ted Wragg is professor of education at Exeter University
TALKING POINTS
Should we get all our energy from “green” sources such as wind farms?
For
Burning limited stocks of fossil fuels is criminal as it pollutes the atmosphere and adds to long-term environmental problems such as global warming. Governments could invest in cleaner methods that would produce all our energy. Windmills are a long-established, efficient and cheap way of producing energy that does not injure anyone’s health.
Against
Conventional cars need petrol and it would be decades before most of our needs could be met from green sources. Windmills pollute the environment by being unsightly and using up vast areas of green field sites. The cost of some green energy sources, such as wave power, can be prohibitive.
