Students from the wind project schools were able to conduct a sharing session utilizing CU-SeeMe videoconferencing software. Students from the schools collaborating on the "Wind Our Fierce Friend" Project met on the Franklin Institute reflector to discuss their windmill creations.
Each student group brought their windmill in front of the camera so that participating sites could view their creations. As each windmill was shown the students in the group explained their definitions of what "best" for their group was and told about the materials or designs factors which they took into consideration. Windmill blades varied from a basic 4 blade design to those with 8 or more spokes. The materials used to catch the wind included small plastic ketsup cups, plastic banana boats, foam plates, funnels, paper tags, and other items which students settled upon after extensive testing with their artifical wind sources.
Students at Long Branch tested their windmills using both the low and high speed settings of their fans and rotated their windmills to properly orient them to catch the most wind.
Karen Elinich from the Franklin Institute asked the students questions about their windmills and provided them with some positive feedback on their creations.
Sites involved in the videoconference met throughout the day in order to accomodate the time zones and school schedules. We were very excited to get email from some Hillside students. The sites involved for this online sharing experience were:
Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, PA
Hillside Elementary School in Cottage Grove, MN
Long Branch Elementary School in Arlington, VA
Scott Elementary School in Greeley, CO