Practice and Evaluation of an Education Session for Fostering Hope for the Future in Children by Designing Wind Turbines

We conducted an education session that included designing wind turbines with an aim to foster hope for the future in children. The session was held with 134 elementary school students in the fourth grade. The contents of the educational program were: (1) a lecture on issues regarding energy and the environment, (2) designing and making new types of wind turbines constructed out of thick paper, (3) conducting experiments to evaluate their power generation capability (i.e., the activity was first carried out individually, and then in groups of three or four), (4) analyzing experimental data and presenting the results to the participants in groups, and (5) a lecture on the characteristics of wind turbines, disadvantages of renewable energy, and the energy mix of power sources. According to the questionnaire-based survey, more than 90% of the participants enjoyed designing and making the wind turbines, conducting experiments, analyzing the experimental data, and were motivated to continue to create more efficient wind turbines. However, the percentage of participants who were satisfied with the experimental results and their own presentations was less than 80%, and 60% felt that there is a possibility that the issue pertaining to energy and the environment can be solved. According to the results of the structural equation modeling, participants who were satisfied with the experimental results of the power generated by the wind turbines that they had created were inspired by the successful results of other groups. Additionally, these participants felt that the issues pertaining to energy and the environment can be solved. We conclude that to foster hope for the future in children through inquiry-based learning, it is necessary to give them sufficient time or set a target to achieve success so that they can satisfy themselves.