Wind farms are an important source of renewable energy, but many local communities dislike the idea of it being placed near them.
Useful links
Windfarms: for and against (BBC Newsround)
How we can use wind power when there’s no wind
Wind farms: for or against (YouGov)
Advantages and disadvantages of wind power
Reay protesters vow to keep up the fight against new wind farms
World’s best wind power producers (2019)
Investigation
Pupils work individually to investigate wind farms and decide whether they are useful or not. Then they use their evidence to design and create a piece of campaign literature, either for or against a new wind farm in the local area e.g. poster, banner or leaflet.
Outline
1: for and against.
Use this Newsround discussion to identify five reasons for wind farms and five reasons against wind farms.
Task 2: information vs opinion
Look at your reasons for and against wind farms. Some of these reasons are providing factual information and others are offering opinions. Try to work out which of your reasons are opinions and which provide factual information.
Task 3: data and statistics
Look at your reasons for and against again.
- Do they make sense?
- Are they precise or vague?
Your final research task is to find more precise statistics to back up your information from library books or online sources.
Task 4: campaign
Use your data to create a booklet, banner or poster to campaigner or against a wind farm being built in the local area.
Skills
- Decision making
- Evaluation
- Information literacy: using different sources; search skills: keywords, scanning, Ctrl + F; note taking.
- Lateral thinking
- Creativity
Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes
I can identify the possible consequences of an environmental issue and make informed suggestions about ways to manage the impact. (3-08a)
