{"id":5905,"date":"2018-05-18T14:28:13","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T14:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ab\/peps\/?p=5905"},"modified":"2018-05-21T13:50:44","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T13:50:44","slug":"may-diary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/ab\/peps\/2018\/05\/18\/may-diary\/","title":{"rendered":"May Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renewables Engineering Islay \u2013 May Diary<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As the end of our year-long project approaches there has been no slowing down here in Port Ellen\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mentor Visit<\/em><\/p>\n

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Again, we were delighted to have our mentor, Neil Chattle<\/strong>, visit the school at the end of April.\u00a0 He toured the school to see what the children had been up to and looking at displays of their work.\u00a0 The children in nursery with Alison Logan<\/strong> were very keen that he see the boat that they\u2019d built\u2026and check out the tadpoles! In the afternoon Neil introduced all the children to jet engines and let them assemble amazing model engines used by apprentices at Rolls-Royce.\u00a0 There was lots of adrenaline running in the competition to see which team could assemble their engine \u00a0fastest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learning about Solar Energy<\/em><\/p>\n

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P1\/2\/3 and Maggie Harrison<\/strong> have been finding out about life in rural Africa.\u00a0 Having read the story of Handa\u2019s Surprise<\/em> they have investigated what it\u2019s like to live in rural Africa and how homes there don\u2019t have electricity.\u00a0 Evie\u2019s mum came in to talk to the class about her experience of living in a remote part of Tanzania and she showed the children a kerosene lamp that people might use to light their homes.\u00a0 The children learned how solar energy might be helpful.\u00a0 They built models of African homes and added solar panels and lighting \u2013 a great addition to the sand tray which was full of wild animals.\u00a0 They also built and tested solar ovens!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Boy who Harnessed the Wind<\/em><\/p>\n

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Also thinking about how renewables could be used in developing countries were P4\/5.\u00a0 They read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind <\/em>by William Kamwamba. Everyone was amazed that this was a true story of a 14 year old boy. Scott said I was surprised it was a real story. I think the boy was sad when everyone called him crazy but he showed resilience and kept working on his idea. <\/em>Kate Brown used the story as a novel study and the children worked in groups to understand more about living in rural Malawi. They then watched William Kamwamba as an adult presenting his story to an audience. Kate was amazed about the impact this had on the children in her class and told us I heard one of the children at a family party tell everyone about this amazing real life story of a young boy in Malawi and the incredible things he did to help feed his village.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Gael Force Test Run<\/em><\/p>\n

Kate Brown<\/strong> and the group from P4\/5 tested their floating wind turbine, Gael Force<\/em>, for the Knotts to Watts competition on the day that the Rolls-Royce media team visited.\u00a0 It was typically wild, wet and windy!\u00a0 The dads who had been involved in supporting the build were just as keen to see if it worked on the sea\u2026.and they were not disappoionted. The group are looking forward to seeing how the device performs in the giant wave tank when they go to Glasgow in June.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Climate Change<\/em><\/p>\n

This month Jo Clark\u2019s<\/strong> class have focused on climate change, who it affects and how we can help. \u00a0They have looked at the carbon footprint of different countries and heard stories about women around the world who are working to help communities adapt to climate change. \u00a0Rowan said I was surprised climate change doesn\u2019t affect everyone equally. \u00a0Poorer countries are more affected by severe weather than we are, which isn\u2019t fair because rich countries are contributing more to climate change.<\/em> \u00a0Now they are working on inventions that can help save people from climate events around the world. \u00a0They created climate change spiral poems for the visit of author and scientist Nicola Davies, who writes stories for children with an environmental theme.<\/p>\n

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We are Engineers<\/em><\/p>\n

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One of the main aims in the project was to raise the profile of engineering among our children. This is already showing some impact. Primary 6&7 carry out Endeavour projects every year; long term projects chosen by the children which are ambitious, look at developing new skills and have to be shared with the local community at the end. \u00a0This year our focus on engineering has led to some interesting project choices. \u00a0Sophie is currently building a hydraulic robot arm as part of her Endeavour on biomedical engineering. \u00a0I chose this project because I think girls should be able to do engineering and I would like a job that helps people. \u00a0<\/em>Taylor has built a model Haynes combustion engine as part of his project on mechanical engineering; To build the model was ambitious and challenging <\/em>and Donald is learning about electrical engineering and has built a capacitor circuit to store energy for the P123 class solar lights in their African huts. \u00a0The same impact is being seen throughout the school.\u00a0 In nursery Erin asked Alison Logan<\/strong> Are we going to be engineering today? <\/em>Jo Clark also arranged for P6\/7 from Port Charlotte Primary to visit Port Ellen for some paper plane engineering!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Upcoming Events<\/em><\/p>\n

Although this will be the final diary entry we will keep you updated on our upcoming events and continued progress with our project.\u00a0 George Dean<\/strong> is organising to take P1\/2\/3 to see the hydro dam, wind turbine and solar panels at the Gaelic College now that the weather is better and these younger children have a better understanding of renewable energy. The team are planning a large community event to share our journey on 29th<\/sup> May and Maureen MacDonald<\/strong> has been in discussion with BBC Alba to come along and film.\u00a0 Maureen is also in discussions with the council and liaising with the Islay Energy Trust about the possibility of us installing a wind turbine in the school,\u2013 a lasting legacy from this project<\/p>\n

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Budget<\/em><\/p>\n

We have not spent any money this month so we still have \u00a33280.99 \u00a0in the budget.\u00a0 Alison and Maggie are planning to to buy some additional construction material for the Pre-5 unit and some solar lighting for the school; remaining money will go towards our legacy projects.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renewables Engineering Islay \u2013 May Diary \u00a0 As the end of our year-long project approaches there has been no slowing down here in Port Ellen\u2026.   Mentor Visit Again, we were delighted to have our mentor, Neil Chattle, visit the school at the end of April.\u00a0 He toured the school to see what the children … <\/p>\n

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