Norfolk teacher Amanda Moffat is hoping to inspire future engineers this Great Big Green Week, by challenging them to build a wind turbine. Here, the Design and Technology teacher – plus a couple of the students involved – explain more
Norfolk youngsters can gain from a jobs boom brought by new offshore wind farms, according to a teacher who mentors young tech enthusiasts through an after-school club. Students at Alderman Peel High School in Wells-next-the-Sea will be challenged to build a working wind turbine this Great Big Green Week as they are introduced to careers in engineering in a project funded by one of the region’s largest wind farms. “It’s incredibly important – there’s lots of opportunities in renewable energy so it will be fantastic for their future careers,” says design and technology teacher Amanda Moffat. “It’s going to be really valuable to get students involved in learning skills that could lead to careers in that industry in the future.”
Year nine students at the school will work in groups to build a fully working turbine out of materials including paper clips, rubber bands and straws to generate enough power to light an LED bulb.
During the activity day, which will take place during the national Great Big Green Week, students will explore the advantages of wind energy as well as considering challenges such as potential impacts on wildlife. They will be encouraged to think about those factors as they plan their own designs.
Pupils at the school’s STEM club, for enthusiasts in science, technology, engineering and maths, said they were excited to tackle the wind turbine challenge. Freddie, aged 14, will take part in the challenge. “I’m very excited for it,” he says. “I’m hoping to get a deeper knowledge of how and why wind turbines work – I’d love to work in this field.”
Blake, aged 12, has already taken part in a different wind power challenge. “I was quite fascinated with the power of the wind,” he says. “I’m thinking about things like wind turbines and solar panels that could create new ways of powering our country. I like thinking about saving the planet so we can thrive a bit longer.”
The east of England will need more than 11,000 offshore wind workers by 2029, and this activity day has been funded by the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, which is located 32km north of Cromer, through its Community Fund.
Norfolk has a key role in plans to create more clean energy in the UK – the government wants to generate 50 gigawatts through offshore wind in the UK in the next four years, with more than a third of that in the East of England. That will mean increasing the number of jobs from 3,600 at present to more than 11,000 by 2029.
A spokesperson for Equinor, which operates the Dudgeon wind farm, said: “The Dudgeon Community Fund’s STEM Programme seeks to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, inventors and innovators.”
The STEM Day will be run by The Smallpeice Trust, which supports engineering careers. It will also focus on the life expectancy of fossil fuels and the importance of renewable energy sources in helping combat environmental challenges.
The day is being funded by a grant from the Dudgeon Community Fund which was established eight years ago and currently commits to over £125,000 per year to aid STEM educational and skills initiatives for young people in the Great Yarmouth, North Norfolk and Breckland districts of Norfolk.
Great Big Green Week, the UK’s biggest ever celebration of action to tackle climate change and protect nature, runs to June 14 and will be the biggest ever, with two million people taking part.
Featured image of Amanda Moffat showing pupils a model turbine at the school’s STEM club – supplied
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