Last week on Wednesday, the Grade 5’s had the opportunity to dive into hands-on learning of renewable and non-renewable sources of energy, at the Mountsberg Conservation Area in Campbellville. The Grade 5’s started off the day by listening to an introductory powerpoint of what they were going to explore later on in the day. Students learned about the different types of energy including what renewable and non-renewable energy is.
Before learning more about the different energy sources, students got to visit the barn where they got to see a few farm animals like goats, horses, chickens, bunnies, and pigs.
The Grade 5’s then proceeded to learn about the different types of renewable energy which included solar, wind, and hydro. We first looked at solar energy where the Grade 5’s got to look at solar panels and understand how the solar panels convert sunlight into electricity.
Next we looked at hydro energy where students got to learn how to generate energy using water. Students had to form an assembly line from the bottom all the way to the top transferring buckets of water to the top of the container. Once the buckets were filled, students got to watch how the water transferred into energy.
Lastly, students learned about wind energy and the process of converting kinetic energy into electricity using wind mills. Students were given “scientific instruments” to discover the direction that would power their windmills to spin. Students began to realize that if they faced the direction where there was water, their windmills would spin much quicker.
The Grade 5’s also took part in a laundry relay race, creating a human windmill, and had some time to reflect on their carbon footprint and the choices they can make to live a sustainable lifestyle. We had an awesome day at Mountsberg Conservation Area learning all about non-renewable and renewable energy resources!
