Environments - CROP FARMER  

Wind Farm: Pros and Cons (developed by ABC Education)

Middle 

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding

Australian Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability Priority

Cooperative Learning Activity

1. In groups of 3 - 4 students, look at the following video from ABC 7.30 3 August 2022

2. Read the following information provided:

"Wind turbines appear to be part of the solution to a clean energy future, given that they provide a renewable source of energy that is virtually emission-free.

However, as you will see in this clip, wind turbines also generate heated debate within the community, with some people questioning their impact on human health and local land values."


3. Things to think about and discuss with your group. Write up your notes as a group to discuss with the whole class.

"A.Have you seen a wind turbine in operation? If so, where? What were your impressions of its size and position in the landscape? What are the benefits of using wind turbines? If you could install a wind turbine where you live, would you? Why or why not?

B.Morten Albaek represents a wind turbine company. What is the company's world view in relation to energy production? What evidence in the clip demonstrates the importance of the Australian market to this company? Identify the aim of the group called 'Stop These Things'. What claims does Pat Gabb make about the environmental and economic impacts of wind farms?

C. Explain the role of Act on Facts. Why might their funding model lead some people to claim they are biased? There appear to be conflicting opinions about the health effects of wind turbines. List the arguments made by the opposing groups. How has the Department of Health, Victoria responded? How might the claims about wind turbine syndrome be finally settled?

D. The windiest places are ideal for generating electricity, but a range of environmental, economic and social criteria will be used to make and evaluate this decision. Refer to case studies or do a keyword search of 'site selection wind farms' to explain how site (elevation, slope, soil) and situation (latitude and longitude, distance from landforms and settlements, nature of the surrounding region) may influence the selection of a wind farm location."

E. If you were a crop farmer, would having a wind farm on your property help or hinder you? Why? Why not?

If your neighbouring farmer decided to have a wind farm, what problems/challenges would this present to you as a crop farmer? Would it depend on your crop or not?

4. As a class, discuss the issues raised.

Science Plant Experiment: Can it be repeated?

 Middle  Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

1. Read the following article:

"Five ninth-grade young women from Denmark recently created a science experiment that is causing a stir in the scientific community.

It started with an observation and a question. The girls noticed that if they slept with their mobile phones near their heads at night, they often had difficulty concentrating at school the next day. They wanted to test the effect of a cellphone's radiation on humans, but their school, Hjallerup School in Denmark, did not have the equipment to handle such an experiment. So the girls designed an experiment that would test the effect of cellphone radiation on a plant instead.

The students placed six trays filled with Lepidium sativum, a type of garden cress, into a room without radiation, and six trays of the seeds into another room next to two routers that according to the girls' calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone.

Over the next 12 days, the girls observed, measured, weighed and photographed their results. By the end of the experiment the results were blatantly obvious — the cress seeds placed near the router had not grown. Many of them were completely dead. Meanwhile, the cress seeds planted in the other room, away from the routers, thrived.

The experiment earned the girls top honors in a regional science competition and the interest of scientists around the world." (Source: MNN)

2. All Science experiments need to be repeatable! You are to repeat this experiment, noting down the variables and showing the calculations of the mobile phone's radiation compared to that of a router.

3. Did you get the same results? If not, why not?