"Look at it this way"

A great resource for students to explore... good lyrics to deconstruct and add some more verses, or write one in favour in the same style...

For my new teaching job I had to teach a lesson on the theme of Wind Farm Development. Fortunately, the department has been using my GA KS3 toolkit 'Look at it this Way' This book is still available to buy from the GA Shop. I decided in the time that I had to prepare for my interview lesson, which was very short and ended up being in the early hours of the morning of the day itself, that I would adapt a lesson from the book. Some of the students had apparently been doing some of the activities already, so had a flavour of what to expect. Here's an image of a wind farm that I took while on my way between home and Sheffield. I discovered that in terms of the definition of a wind farm, then as few as two wind turbines could be classed as a wind farm for planning purposes, although some local authorities classed it as three. There was no overall definition in terms of numbers. Wind Farm, Lincolnshire Fens, as seen from the A17 Image by Alan Parkinson As I had a ...

The first of two mentions for my village in the local paper today. The first relates to the planning application for a SOLAR FARM. This is an alternative renewable energy proposal to WIND ENERGY , and one that students could perhaps get involved in assessing for its potential benefits and problems for the local landscape. There were some objections to the plan which received approval today, but also some good points made in its favour of course. You can read the application, which includes a full appraisal of the site in the document which is linked to later in this blogpost. One of the factors that had to be considered is the impact on local drainage. I pass the proposed site occasionally - it is not on what could be called a main route - and it is sloping, but doesn't appear to have the same drainage issues as other fields which have received a lot of rainfall in recent months. If you have suitable digital mapping software, you can visit the proposed site at  TF 87517 2...