Wind Energy: Making & Testing Pinwheels to Model Wind Turbines
Students learn about wind energy by making a pinwheel to model a wind turbine. Just like engineers, they decide where and how their turbine works best by testing it in different areas of the playground.
Students model wind turbinesCopyright Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Wind_turbine_with_observation_deck_bruck_an_der_leitha.jpg
Engineers use their understanding of natural forces to obtain energy from renewable resources such as the sun, wind, rivers and organic matter. For example, regions with forceful and steady wind are suitable for wind farms. Engineers design wind turbines to produce electricity from the force of the wind. Turbines look like pinwheels with angled blades connected to a gear box, which is connected to a generator. Engineers collect and analyze wind data to continually improve turbine technology and wind farm design.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Understand different sources of energy and that wind is a renewable energy source.
- Understand how a wind turbine works.
- Understand how engineers work to monitor wind and design technology to capitalize on wind energy.
- Understand how to use angles and which angles are best for wind turbines.