An important component of the JFLL program is the presentation of what the kids have learned.
Using a standard trifold presentation board the kids need to communicate information about their topic, their team, and the ways they learned.
Over the course of the month or so that we worked on this, we would review what we were learning with the kids at the end of each meeting and send out minutes of our meeting with a summary of our discussion and the to do list for the next meeting.
The presentations (as with all components) need to be done by the kids. After we had done enough research we planned both the model and the presentation and the kids discussed what they would like included. They decided they would each draw one component of the transportation path and worked out with each other who would do which part. They also drew smaller pictures of their favourite windmills, as everyone was drawn to a different type and this allowed them to make sure their favourites were included in the presentation. They brought their completed pictures to the last meeting to show each other and then we went over the guidelines for what else we need to include in the presentation. They dictated what they wanted to say for each part of the presentation as I typed it, and then we talked about how it would be laid out on the board.
Here is the content of their presentation:
Left Panel
For our topic we chose to learn about windmills and wind turbines and how they get transported.
About our team
Our name is The Screaming Lego Kids. We picked that name because it has all the first letters of all our first names. Some of our team goes to school and some of our team homeschools. Our coaches are our mums and our dads.
What we learned
We found that different parts of the wind turbines manufactured near our home come from Germany, Korea, and Canada. Parts in Germany (gears) and Korea (generator) would travel by train to a harbour, where they get loaded on to a ship and sail across the ocean to North America. In North America they would travel by truck and maybe train to the factory. The wind turbines are assembled in big parts at the factory. From the factory they would be loaded on to a flat bed truck to travel to the windfarm site.
Our Model
Our model shows how parts of the wind turbine travel from Germany and Korea to the final site, by ship, train, and trucks.On our model, pulleys and gears help the crane work. Wheels move the trucks and crane.
How we shared
We will do presentations at a school for Aaron’s class, at a church, to our homeschool group and at a children’s museum. We also have a team blog at learningwithlego.blogspot.com
Right Panel
Transportation Challenges
We think that people and companies should buy things locally when they can.
The general manager of the turbine manufacturing company told us that his company tries to buy local parts. About 80% of the parts are supplied locally. But because of the cost, he soon will not be able to buy locally because it is so much cheaper to buy from China, even when he includes the cost of transporting everything. We think that is sad for the environment and for the people whose jobs will be affected.
Our Favourite Windmills (labels on the pictures)
Emily: This is an old style farm windmill. My mum had one like this on the farm when she was a girl. I like the way the blades are shaped.
Maeve: This is my favourite kind of windmill. A Dutch windmill. I like that the bottom is made of bricks.
Aaron: Two blade wind turbines are more efficient than three blade wind turbines.
Sara: I like the big three blade windmills like the one’s near Lake Huron.
Sam: I like the Darrieus wind turbine because it is on the vertical axis. I also like the "egg beater" nickname.
Colin: I like single blade wind turbines because they are the most efficient but they are hard to balance.
Ways we learned
~ We read books on windmills and wind turbines and about transportation.
~ We researched online and we watched videos online about transportation and windmills.
~ We visited a model Dutch windmill in our city and asked at our city museum about why it was there.
~ We did an experiment about wind and blades and built a model of a wind turbine.
~ We interviewed the General Manager of a wind turbine manufacturer.
~ We visited a wind turbine at a house near where we live, and the general manager talked to us about how it works and how it was built.
~We watched a presentation about trucking and logistics, from one of our dads who works for a Logistics company.
The centre panel showed the kids' pictures of the various modes of transportation used to get the windmill from initial components through to installation. We also included a world map that showed the transportation path, and photos along the bottom that we had taken of our various meetings and field trips.
