The science teams returned from Richmond on Saturday. Maggie and her 5th-8th grade science classes were there competing at KidWind, a wind turbine competition. This was Virginia’s first KidWind challenge. From the brochure: “KidWind was founded in 2002 by Michael Arquin, a middle school teacher from Monterey, California….they have helped teachers and students build over 50,000 experimental wind turbines…the KidWind Challenge is now in its third year and is being held in many states throughout the country.”
Many of the science students and parents went to support the students chosen to be on the teams. The event was a collective effort by all of the science students. Those who were not on the teams still worked on many aspects of the projects, including poster making, design testing and fabrication of the models.
Maggie tells me: “Each team was part of a bigger class effort, with all of the class’s work going into their designs, posters, thinking, etc. Lots of kids wanted to be on the teams, and I had to choose (with some input from them) who would represent each class. The team, of course, had the added responsibility of testing and being interviewed. It is important to me to honor the collaborative effort and attitude of each class. It was truly a joint effort in each of the 3 classes!”
See more pictures of KidWind on our Facebook page! Congratulations to all who worked on this, to those who were in Richmond, and to Maggie!