De-Graft visits a coastal region to explore wind farms - an example of the sustainable use of natural resources.
De-Graft: The UK is surrounded by water and there are many different ways for it to be enjoyed. Like surfing!
The coast is where the land meets the sea or ocean. Often coastal areas are popular places for tourists to visit, holiday, and have fun, like here in North Wales. Later locals Jayden and Eira are joining me to find out how coastal areas like this are also used to help produce renewable energy. But first, let’s zoom out.
I'm here in a region, or principal area as it’s known in Wales, called Denbighshire. Wherever you live in the UK you’re never actually that far away from the coast. If you were to measure around all of the UK’s coastline it would be thousands of kilometres long.
Coastal areas can look really different.
They can range from Northern Ireland’s rugged Causeway coast with amazing ancient rock formations… To a seaside resort like Brighton in the south of England. Some key coastal features you’ll find are beaches, sand dunes, cliffs, and caves.
Coasts are dynamic habitats which means they are constantly changing due to natural forces. There is continuous erosion, that’s where the water wears away at the land, and deposition, where the water drops off bits of rock and sand it’s been carrying.
There are lots of ways to try and protect our coasts including hard sea defences, such as sea walls, or soft defences, such as planting vegetation.
As well as being places where people come to take in the scenery, coastal areas are also where people live and work. There are many different jobs in coastal areas, from those based on the beach like a lifeguard, to jobs based on the water like a fisherman, to jobs based on dry land like a café owner.
Another type of work in coastal areas is renewable energy projects such as offshore windfarms.
I’m with locals Jayden and Eira at Gwynt Y Mor wind farm in North Wales.
Child: And then do I put one of these on?
De-Graft: Yeah, you do.
We’re making windmills to understand more about how wind turbines work.
Child: I’ve finished.
De-Graft: And outside we’re getting a closer look at an old wind turbine blade.
What do you make of it?
Child: I’ve never seen one up close and its bigger than what I thought.
De-Graft: So wind turbines are quite similar to the windmill toys that we’ve got in front of us. What they are able to do is detect the direction of the wind coming in and rotate so the blades are in the best position to spin. So, see if you can turn your windmill toy so it’s in the best position to catch the wind. You guys have got it. Mines managed to turn as well!
So why do you two think that the sea is especially windy?
Child: I think that it’s because there’s more mountains and buildings and stuff blocking the wind and, on the sea, there are none.
De-Graft: Yep, you’re absolutely right, there aren’t really any obstacles in the sea. Now why do you think wind turbines might be good idea?
Child: Because of climate change we need wind farms to help produce energy.
De-Graft: Yeah, spot on! Wind turbines are a good source of renewable energy, which is better for the planet.
But what exactly is renewable energy? Let’s hear from an expert…
Expert: Think of fossil fuels, like coal or gas, when you burn it, it’s gone. It also emits smoke, and it emits CO2, which we know is warming the atmosphere as part of global warming. Whereas the wind, isn’t there every day, but it’s there most days and it will be there tomorrow, and it will be there the day after tomorrow, so it’s renewable. It comes back and you can use it again.
De-Graft: OK, time to compare. Wind turbine blades are around 50 metres on average. That’s nearly as tall as Italy’s tower of Pisa or the same length as 11 cars.
So, what does the coast nearest to you look like? What kind of features does it have? Zoom in and have a look for yourself.
Right guys, who can make their windmills turn the fastest?
Video summary
De-Graft is in on a beach in North Wales exploring coastal areas, including coastal industries.
Across the UK, coastal areas can look quite different - from Northern Ireland’s rugged Causeway coast, to a busy seaside resort like Brighton in the south of England.
De-Graft explains some of the key features you can often find in coastal areas including beaches, sand dunes, cliffs, and caves. Coasts are dynamic habitats, which means they are constantly changing due to natural forces. There are different methods of protecting coastal areas such as hard defences like sea walls, and soft defences like planting vegetation.
The coast is also important when it comes to generating renewable energy, for example using wind turbines. De-Graft visits Gwynt Y Mor wind farm with locals Jayden and Eira. They get a close up look at an old wind turbine blade, and make windmill toys to help understand how wind turbines work.
Teacher Notes
Questions to consider:
- What is your favourite thing about the coast?
- What are some key features of coastal areas?
- What ways can people enjoy the coast? What coastal activities can you think of?
- How might locals feel about tourists who visit the coast?
- What kinds of jobs can you think of that people do in coastal areas?
- What does it mean when we say that coasts are ‘dynamic’ areas?
- Why might coastal areas need protection? What are some of the different ways we can protect our coasts?
- Would you like to live near the coast? Why/why not?
- What is renewable energy? How many different kinds do you know?
- Why is it good to have renewable energy sources like wind farms?
- What different opinions might people have about wind farms?
Suggested activities to further explore learning:
1. Coastal Road Trip
Ask pupils to imagine they’re going on a road trip around the UK that stops off at five different coastal resorts. Groups of younger children could gather information on one of the locations and older pupils might pick five coastal areas per group to study. What unique features does each one have? How are they similar? What physical processes can be found along the coast? What activities can you do at each destination? What sea defences do they have?
- Draw pictures or gather images from online of each coastal area to show what each place looks like, what local people and/or tourists might do around the area of coastline.
- Think about how you’d travel from one destination to the next. What are the distances between the places? How long would it take to drive or get public transport? How could you make the road trip as environmentally friendly as possible? Maybe even use a map or atlas to plot your journey, and make an itinerary of what you’d get up to at each destination.
2. Build your own coastal area
In small groups pupils use a sand tray with water and plasticine to build their own coastal areas with different features.
- Pupils can consider whether they want their coastline to have a beach area, rocks (perhaps with some erosion), maybe some wind turbines, or a café for tourists?
- Encourage pupils to ask questions like ‘what do I think is missing from my nearest coastal area?’ or ‘how could I make my coastal area accessible for all?’Once the coast is constructed perhaps a storm or hurricane might ‘hit’ the area and destroy elements of the coastline… how do the children feel? What might the damage be? How could the coastal area be rebuilt or protected for the future?
Key terminology:
Beach – a piece of land separating a body of water, such as the sea, from inland areas. A beach is usually made of sand or pebbles.
Coastal defences – measures that are put in place to limit/stop the effects of erosion on the environment.
Carbon dioxide – Otherwise known as CO2. It’s a greenhouse gas that’s linked to global warming.
Cliff – a steep natural wall of rock.
Deposition – when a river or water source drops off any of the material, such as rocks and sand, that it has been carrying.
Dynamic environment – an environment that is constantly changing or moving.
Erosion – the process of rock or soil being worn away by natural forces.
Fossil Fuels – fossil fuels include oil, coal, and gas. They are formed over millions of years from the remains of plants and animals and when burned they can harm the environment.
Greenhouse gas – gas that traps escaping heat from the earth and rather than releasing it into space, keeps our planet warm and contributes to global warming.
Groynes – a type of coastal defence that stops sand being washed along and away from a beach.
Renewable energy – a source of energy that doesn’t run out and is naturally replenished such as wind, solar, or tidal.
Sand dunes – a raised area or ridge of sand piled up by the wind.
Tourism – the business generated in an area by people travelling to come and sightsee and explore.
Wind farm – a group of wind turbines in one area used to generate energy.
Suitable for teaching geography at KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 2nd level in Scotland.
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