Ever put your hand in a wind tunnel?
Last month, pupils from four rural primary schools near Soria, Spain, delved into the energy transition – hands on – with a TIGON project partner. As it happened, they already knew a thing or two about renewables.
For young folk, the energy transition isn’t something new. It’s routine business. This is what our colleagues from CEDER-CIEMAT discovered when they organised a renewables workshop for primary school pupils as part of a European energy day.
The workshop took place at the partner’s scientific space known as Energiteca, a dedicated area for hands-on learning and for prototyping the tech used to harness renewable energy.
The TIGON project offered a fertile backdrop to the action, given its various sources of renewables and grid solutions. It was a way to bring the world of experimentation closer to primary schools pupils who usually find themselves far removed from ongoing scientific activities.
The pupils used a wind tunnel to carry out experiments with wind energy. They had a go on a hybrid wind-photovoltaic trainer, put different solar panels through their paces and enjoyed fiddling with solar and wind instruments. Hands-on was the watch word at the workshop. No spectators; only actors.
Afterwards, they were thrown into the “Renewable Energy Room”, from which they had to escape by solving challenges to access secret codes. As far as we know, they all managed to find a way out.
And no need for the organisers to prompt questions during the day ‑ the kids readily asked many things about everything. They also spoke about their own experiences as some of them had solar panels at home. Some even had parents who worked on wind farms.
CEDER-CIEMAT organised the workshop as part an energy day but the schools are also participating in a broader programme by the regional government dedicated to Sustainable Cities within the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
