Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World

Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World
written and illustrated by Allan Drummond, 2011. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. (9780374321840).

Media: pen and ink with watercolor

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.allandrummond.com/

Awards and Honors: Booklist, Starred Review; Kirkus Reviews; Los Angeles Times; New York Times Book Review; Publishers Weekly; School Library Journal, Starred Review

Annotation:

This is the story of the people of Samso, an island in Denmark, who by thinking creatively and working together were able to become almost completely energy independent.

Personal Reaction:
     Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World tells the story of Samso, an island in Denmark, that has changed the ways in which they use and create energy. Allan Drummond makes an important topic eminently accessibly through his engaging prose and cheerful, cartoon-like illustrations. Green sidebars present factual information about topics such as global warming, fossil fuels, and renewable energy sources. It's an optimistic and encouraging take on a topic that can be very heavy (for children as well as adults). Drummond shows readers how a really daunting issue can be solved through some new ideas, the perseverance of a devoted few, and the hard work of the entire community.

Curriculum Connection: Elementary or middle school science- green energy 

Lesson Plan:
Subject Area:               
Environmental Science

Suggested Grade Level:       
3-6

Lesson Title:               
Learning about Energy

Overview:               
Students will learn about alternative energy sources.

Time:                   
2-3 hours
Materials/Equipment Required:   
- Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World by Allan Drumond
- computer with internet access and projector
Each student will need:
- scissors
- 4 small paper cups (like drinking cups)
-  A marking pen (any color)
-  2 strips of stiff, corrugated cardboard -- the same length
- Ruler
- Stapler
- Push pin
- Sharpened pencil with eraser on the end
- Modeling clay
- A watch that shows second

Objectives:   
Students will learn about energy sources, explore ways to save energy, think of ways to reduce their impact on the environment and build an anemometer.

Suggested Procedure:           
Teacher will read aloud Energy Island and lead a discussion about the ways in which their community generates and uses energy. Teacher will write the ways on the board.
 
Class will brainstorm ways to help save the environment (i.e. switch to clean energy, use less energy and energy efficient appliances, watch water usage, recycle materials, reuse materials, buy things with less packaging, plant a tree)
 
Teacher will explore with students the EPA’s website (http://www.epa.gov/ climatechange/kids/solutions/technologies/index.html), focusing on the ways that renewable energy can be created.  

Class will learn about the US Department of Energy’s Wind for Schools project that installs wind turbines at rural schools (http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/schools.asp).

Students will create their own anemometers, following the instructions at http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/anemometer.html. Students can measure the relative wind speed at various locations around their school.

Additional Resources can be found at:
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/schools_teaching_materials.asp