Geography Fieldwork Enquiry

Where is the best place in our school grounds for a solar panel?

Year 6 have been busy this week planning a full geographical enquiry investigation.

Firstly, they studied contour lines to fully understand what the brown lines and numbers on an OS Map mean. We discussed the importance of understanding contour lines when planning to find the best place in our school grounds for a solar panel.

The children said that,

'Higher ground is the best place to place a solar panel because there is less chance of shadows so the solar panel will receive the maximum amount of sunlight.'

Secondly, the children used Digimaps to generate an aerial photograph of the school grounds which they used to hep them draw a detailed sketch map of the potential solar panel locations.

Following this, the children considered the following questions:

* Which area in our school grounds gets the most sunlight?

* Are any shadows created in this spot?

* Is this area safe enough to erect a solar panel?

* Which direction would the solar panel face?
Who would be able to see the solar panel? 

* What do those people think about the prospect of a solar panel being positioned in their view?

* Would the solar panel disturb wildlife?

After a walk and close inspection of their potential sites, the children decided to conduct an interview to gain the opinions of those who may be affected by the solar panels.