Students from Newport Middle School (NMS) are putting their engineering skills to the test as they prepare to compete in the Oregon Coast Renewable Energy Challenge on March 12 at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
The annual daylong competition brings together students from coastal communities in grades 3 through 12 to design and test renewable energy devices powered by wind, waves, and solar energy. Teams present their creations, test them in specialized facilities, and receive feedback from engineering judges with backgrounds in renewable energy and other STEM fields.
This year, four teams from NMS will participate. Two sixth grade teams will compete in the wave energy division, while two seventh/eighth grade STEAM teams will compete in the wind energy division. Teams from other LCSD schools will also compete.
In preparation, students have been following the engineering design process. They began by identifying the problem and researching possible solutions before imagining ideas and selecting a promising design. From there, they built prototypes, tested their devices, evaluated the results, and made improvements.
Last week, students were in the final stages of refining their designs. Some teams in the wind challenge adjusted the angles of their blades, while others experimented with adding or removing weight to reduce drag and increase torque.
For students like Roux DeVries, the process has revealed the fascinating science behind renewable energy. “The fact that someone thought of turning air into energy just blows my mind,” DeVries said. “It’s really cool that wind can power entire cities.”
Martin says hands-on projects like this are an ideal way to introduce engineering concepts to middle school students. “These kinds of experiments help drive curiosity by giving students real time feedback on how the changes they're making are affecting their device's performance, motivating them to keep engineering a better solution,” said Martin.
Teams that place first in the wind divisions will also have the chance to advance to the KidWind World Competition in May, where student innovators from across the globe showcase their renewable energy designs.