The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba is a truly remarkable person. He was able to teach himself how to do something that would have taken most people multiple classes and many well educated teachers. Furthermore, William was determined enough to continue building his windmill despite all the setbacks he faced. William was creative enough to be able to build his windmill without any proper supplies. All through his life, William was extremely curious. He uses his thirst for knowledge to help his family and his community.

In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the major symbol found in the book is William’s windmill. This symbolizes hope for a better life for his family. “You have a child who can perform wonders. You’ll never complain about kerosene” (205). This quote proves he helped his family in many ways. A better life where they could have electricity and lights. The windmill represents the ambition and determination William has to build the windmill when everyone doubts and makes fun of him. This symbol is talked about all throughout the book, as it is the reason the book was

There are four main characteristics of the scientific method: observation/measurements, make an assumption, test the assumption, and revise the assumption. The first stage we make an observations. For instance, I notice that my peppers in my garden are not growing well. I am going to assume this is because I did not water that area well enough. So I am now going to test my assumption. This is done by watering the peppers in my garden more frequently. Lastly, I am going to see if my assumption was correct. If my peppers only needed more water, they will begin to grow more rapidly. It is also possible that my assumption was wrong, and that my peppers were getting enough water; however, there could be something wrong with the soil, temperature, etc. These are the four main characteristics of the scientific method; it is important to note that our assumptions sometimes be wrong, thus it is always important that we test our assumptions to make sure we are correct.

The development of the scientific method in the late 1500’s to the early 1600’s was a crucial stepping-stone in the science community. The scientific method is based upon observations, hypotheses and experimentation. The concept is rather simple, and can be applied to many areas of study. Once an observation is made, the observer can make a hypothesis as to why that phenomenon occurs and can then design an experiment to prove whether or not that hypotheses is valid. Although the scientific method has been extremely useful in the discovery of various things from usages of medications to studying animal behavior, there are still those who question the usage of this tool. These critics claim that since

The scientific method is used during experiments to find a conclusion and or reason as to why an event or something happens.

The scientific method continues to be misrepresented in public schools all over the world. Students are being taught that there is a beginning and an end to the scientific method, and that everything in between is protocol and must be followed chronologically. “Ask a question, do some research, come up with a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, understand your data, make your conclusion!” a grade six science teacher will tell their students. “It’ll be on your quiz!”. However, what those students are not being taught is that the scientific method has never been, and will never be a linear process. Scientists constantly revisit different steps of the process in order to better understand the subject matter; sometimes it can take many years to

Kamkwamba, after some thought about a bicycle dynamo, his fondness for radios, and the wind levels at his home, decided to create a makeshift windmill. He experimented with a small model using a cheap dynamo and, using this experience, eventually made a functioning windmill that powered some electrical appliances in his family's house. Local farmers and journalists investigated the spinning device and Kamkwamba's fame in international news skyrocketed. A blog about his accomplishments was written on Hacktivate and Kamkwamba took part in the first event celebrating his particular type of ingenuity called Maker Faire Africa, in Ghana in August 2009.[2]Kamkwamba was born in a family of relative poverty and relied primarily on farming to survive. According to his biography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, his father had been a rough fighting man who changed after discovering the Christian God. A crippling famine forced Kamkwamba to drop out of school, and he was not able to return to school because his family was unable to afford the tuition fees. In a

In William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealers’ book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind the boy who harnessed the wind deals with teenager William Kamkwamba building a windmill in his backyard to produce light for his family’s home and to prevent future famines from ruining their crop. The famines in the book were a huge part of the book and a main drive for Kamkwamba while building the windmill. He described the horrors of famine on page 135 of his book using literary merit to explain how desperate the people most affected by the famine where and how that changed them. This page explained how the economy of Malawi was caving in on itself while the people of Malawi started changing. Thanks to the new change in power that had once helped farmers harvest

My activity used many steps to the scientific method. Each student formed a hypothesis without even trying. Many would say that they were going to do better with my right eye open, or with both eyes open. Then they were to do the experiment, where data was taken. After the experiment they could analyze their data and could detect where they had actually done the best and why.

The Scientific Method is the standardized procedure that scientists are supposed to follow when conducting experiments, in order to try to construct a reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary representation of our surroundings. To follow the Scientific Method is to stick very tightly to a order of experimentation. First, the scientist must observe the phenomenon of interest. Next, the scientist must propose a hypothesis, or idea in which the experiments will be based around. Then, through repeated experimentation, the hypothesis can either be proven false or become a theory. If the hypothesis is proven to be false, the scientist must reformulate his or her ideas and come up with another hypothesis, and the experimentation begins again. This

One known research method is the Scientific Method which is a uniform way of creating observations, assembly data, establishing concepts, testing predictions, and understanding outcomes. These observations are made in order to observe and define behaviors. The first step to take in using a scientific method is to develop an issue or question. Next step is to perform a research and observation on the issue or question that was developed. Then a hypothesis needs to be formulated after these steps have been made.

When finished reading The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind, I noticed some traits that William possesses. One of the first traits I could distinguish was his perseverance. It seemed that no matter how much doubt he accumulated, he seemed to push through it. For this, I have even more respect for William. People like him are the ones who will be remembered for changing the world. Although William didn’t give electricity to all of Africa, he has a lead on how to potentially accomplish this in the future. William had impressed many people once his windmill actually worked. Reading about all his struggles to be able to make a windmill in Africa gives you a more in-depth understanding of his frustrations. William has some amazing characteristics and even better intentions.

The Scientific Method is a series of steps in an investigation to test a hypothesis.

In 2009 one young man changed the lives of thousands by telling his story of hardship, survival and innovation to the world. The book, "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind" by William Kamkwamba reveals in great detail the complete blindness that our western society possesses regarding the truth of life on the continent of Africa. As citizens of the western world we have a tendency to see only the statistics and politics of the wars, famines and disasters that occur in developing countries while failing to even consider the human beings struck down by them. In this detachment we pass judgement upon the entire nation as a whole, forgetting the millions who do more in a single day with what little they have than we do with our abundance in a

William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer’s novel The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind incorperates multiple events where William opposes the will of the Majority. Living in William’s community has many insuperable obsticles. For example, growing food and recieving water is an extremely difficult task. Most of the villagers rely on others to grow their food for them, but William believes there is another option. William opposes the will of them majority by building a windmill despite other villagers and their criticism. Overall, this shows that those who oppose society can make a difference in their community.