Visual Impacts of Offshore Wind

This is a two-part lesson. The first part of the lesson will take place in a large space like a gym or a cafeteria. Students will use a topographical sea floor map to determine how far offshore their wind turbine should be placed. They will also look at call maps for New Jersey offshore wind turbines to visualize where building sites are in relation to the shoreline and cities. After students are familiar with the siting, they will be tasked to place a turbine to scale from shore to call site. Then, students will take their firefly wind turbine with a stand and walk the scaled distance to site their turbine and visualize the impact on the horizon. Along with the interactive activity, students will also learn about the curvature of the earth and its visual impact. In part two, students will learn about the environmental impacts of renewable vs. nonrenewable energy and create a Public Service Announcement for offshore wind turbines