A Swedish company called Modvion has made a really tall wind turbine tower out of wood. It's the tallest one in the world and stands at 150 meters (492 feet). The tower has a generator on top that makes enough electricity for about 400 homes. Modvion thinks using wood for wind turbines is a good idea because it's lighter than steel, which means they can make taller turbines with less material.
Usually, wind turbine towers are made of steel, but that can be a problem, especially for projects on land. As turbines get bigger, the steel towers have to get wider, which makes it hard to transport them. On the other hand, wooden towers can be built in smaller sections that are easier to move and put together. Modvion's tower is made of a special kind of wood called laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which is strong and flexible. The company wants to make even taller wooden turbines in the future.
The outside of the wooden turbine looks like a regular one, with a white coating and fiberglass blades. But the inside is special, with curved wooden walls that look like a sauna. The tower gets its strength from layers of LVL that have been glued and pressed together. Modvion thinks wood and glue are a great combination because they let them make taller turbines with less material.
Some experts think the modular system of wooden towers is a good thing, but others think it might take more time and resources to install compared to steel towers. A big wind turbine company called Siemens Gamesa thinks wooden towers can work alongside steel ones and is trying to reduce the carbon emissions from the steel it uses. But Modvion says using wood instead of steel gets rid of the carbon emissions from wind turbines completely, because trees take in carbon dioxide while they're alive and store it in the wood.
Vestas, a big renewable energy company, is interested in Modvion's wooden tower and thinks it could be really useful for making taller turbines. Using wood instead of steel not only solves transportation problems but also helps the environment, because making steel creates a lot of carbon emissions. Another company called SSE Renewables in the UK is also looking into wooden towers instead of steel.
Modvion wants to make even taller wooden turbines in the future and plans to open a factory that makes 100 wooden turbines every year by 2027. They hope that in 10 years, 10% of all the turbines installed each year will be made of wood. This new technology could help make renewable energy even better for the environment.
Original news source: World's tallest wooden wind turbine starts turning (BBC)
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– News Summary
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1. Divide the class into small groups.
2. Provide each group with a copy of the article.
3. Instruct the groups to read the article and summarize the main points in a news summary format.
4. Each group will present their summary to the class, highlighting the key details of the article.
– Opinion Poll
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1. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
2. Provide each pair/group with a list of discussion questions related to the article.
3. Instruct the students to discuss the questions and share their opinions with each other.
4. After the discussion, conduct an opinion poll by asking students to vote on their preferred option for each question.
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– Vocabulary Pictionary
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2. Divide the class into two teams.
3. One student from each team will come to the front of the class.
4. Show the chosen student a vocabulary word from the list.
5. The student must draw a picture representing the word while their team tries to guess it.
6. The team that guesses correctly gets a point.
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– Headline Creation
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2. Instruct each group to come up with a catchy headline for the article.
3. Encourage creativity and emphasize the importance of capturing the main idea in a concise and engaging way.
4. Each group will present their headline to the class and explain why they chose it.
– Two Truths and a Lie
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2. Divide the class into pairs or small groups.
3. Each student will take turns sharing their statements with their partner/group.
4. The partner/group must guess which statement is the lie.
5. After all students have shared, discuss the answers as a class and allow students to explain their choices.
π€ Comprehension Questions:
Modvion used wood to make their wind turbine tower.
The wooden wind turbine tower made by Modvion is 150 meters (492 feet) tall.
Modvion thinks using wood for wind turbines is a good idea because it is lighter than steel, which allows them to make taller turbines with less material.
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is a special kind of wood that is strong and flexible. It is used by Modvion to make their wooden turbine tower.
Modvion makes their wooden turbine tower strong by using layers of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) that have been glued and pressed together.
The benefit of using wood instead of steel for wind turbine towers is that wood is lighter and easier to transport. It also helps reduce carbon emissions because trees take in carbon dioxide while they're alive and store it in the wood.
Some experts think the modular system of wooden towers may take more time and resources to install compared to steel towers.
Vestas and SSE Renewables are some other companies that are interested in using wooden towers for wind turbines instead of steel.
π§βοΈ Listen and Fill in the Gaps:
A Swedish company called Modvion has made a really tall wind turbine tower out of wood. It's the tallest one in the world and at 150 meters (492 feet). The tower has a generator on top that makes enough electricity for about 400 homes. Modvion thinks using wood for wind turbines is a good idea because it's lighter than steel, which means they can make turbines with less material. Usually, wind turbine towers are made of steel, but that can be a problem, especially for on land. As turbines get bigger, the steel towers have to get wider, which makes it hard to transport them. On the other hand, towers can be built in smaller that are easier to move and put together. Modvion's tower is made of a special kind of wood called laminated veneer lumber (LVL), which is strong and flexible. The company wants to make even taller wooden turbines in the future. The of the wooden turbine looks like a regular one, with a white coating and blades. But the inside is special, with wooden walls that look like a sauna. The tower gets its strength from layers of LVL that have been glued and pressed together. Modvion thinks wood and glue are a great combination because they let them make taller turbines with less material. Some experts think the modular of wooden towers is a good thing, but others think it might take more time and resources to install compared to steel towers. A big wind turbine company called Siemens Gamesa wooden towers can work alongside steel ones and is trying to reduce the emissions from the steel it uses. But Modvion says using wood instead of steel gets rid of the carbon emissions from wind turbines completely, because trees take in carbon dioxide while they're and store it in the wood. Vestas, a big renewable energy company, is interested in Modvion's wooden tower and thinks it could be really useful for making taller turbines. Using wood instead of steel not only transportation problems but also helps the environment, because making steel a lot of carbon emissions. Another company called SSE Renewables in the UK is also looking into wooden instead of steel. Modvion wants to make even taller wooden turbines in the future and plans to open a factory that makes 100 wooden turbines every year by 2027. They hope that in 10 years, 10% of all the turbines installed each year will be made of wood. This new technology could help make renewable even better for the environment.
π¬ Discussion Questions:
1. What is a wind turbine and what is its purpose?
2. How would you feel if your electricity at home was generated by a wind turbine made of wood?
3. Do you like the idea of using wood instead of steel for wind turbine towers? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it is important to find more environmentally-friendly ways to generate electricity? Why or why not?
5. What do you think are the advantages of using wood instead of steel for wind turbine towers?
6. How do you think using wood for wind turbines could help solve transportation problems?
7. What is laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and why is it a good material for wind turbine towers?
8. Do you think wooden wind turbine towers could be a good solution for reducing carbon emissions? Why or why not?
9. How do you think using wood instead of steel could make renewable energy even better for the environment?
10. What are some potential challenges or drawbacks of using wooden wind turbine towers?
11. How do you think the modular system of wooden towers compares to steel towers in terms of installation time and resources?
12. Do you think it is important for companies to invest in renewable energy technologies like wooden wind turbine towers? Why or why not?
13. How do you think the use of wooden wind turbine towers could impact the renewable energy industry in the future?
14. Would you be interested in living near a wind turbine made of wood? Why or why not?
15. What other renewable energy technologies do you think could be beneficial for the environment? Why?
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