Ready for action?
Resources
Tangible Resources
Ammeter, Turbine Building Parts, 20-30 polypropylene cards, glue gun or screws, hair dryer and stand
Preparation
Set up the equipment.
Goals, messages & concepts
Specific goals
- Learn about the possible ways to harness wind as a source of energy.
- Understand the environmental benefits of using wind energy, as well as the disadvantages.
- Study the factors that affect the efficiency of wind turbines.
- Investigate the relationship between the structure of the turbine's propeller blades and its efficiency.
- Examine the principle of energy conservation in the context of utilising wind energy for human needs.
Specific messages
- Using wind energy as a substitute for fossil fuels in power plants helps to mitigate the depletion of non-renewable resources and reduces air pollution.
- A wind turbine converts wind energy into mechanical or electrical energy.
- The relative share of wind energy that can be used for human benefit (for work), -i.e. the energy efficiency of the turbine- depends on the shape / number of turbine blades.
- It is not possible to utilise all the wind energy for human needs, but the "missing" energy does not disappear and is expressed in different forms.
Main terms
- wind energy
- turbine
Practices & skills
STEM practices
- Analysing and interpreting data
- Constructing explanations and designing solutions
- Developing and using models
- Engaging in argument from evidence
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
- Asking questions and defining problems
- Planning and carrying out investigations
Soft skills
- Dealing with uncertainty
- Learning failure is a part of learning
- Teamwork and collaboration
Management skills
- Planning
- Use of resources
Course of activity
step 1
Introduce wind energy. Discuss the following questions:
- What is wind?
- Where is the energy in the wind?
- How do we use wind energy in our daily lives?
- For supplementary information to support delivery, see Appendix 2.
step 2
Explain how wind energy converts to mechanical energy, explaining the invention of the windmill and mechanical turbines and how they work. See downloadable resources for explanation.
step 3
To show how wind can be used to generate electrical energy, demonstrate a wind turbine connected to an LED bulb. Working in groups, students will then carry out experiments to learn about the effect of the number/size/angle of the blades on energy production.
- Each group will receive a turbine, a hair dryer on a stand, and a number of propellers according to the tables below.
- Each group tests one parameter. In order for the results to be reliable, care must be taken to keep the other factors constant (for example, if the effect of the angle is tested, the number and size of blades must be kept constant).
- The measure (indication) of the turbine's efficiency is the amount of electric current generated.
- Measure the electric current using an ammeter (on a scale of milliamperes).
- Run the hair dryer (on the cool setting) and place it in front of the propellers at an optimal distance - around 60 cm. The distance must be kept constant during all experiments.
- Performing the experiments - see tables for organising the results here.
step 4
After the experiments have been carried out, each group will state which type of propeller was the most efficient. They will compare their answers to what they thought at the beginning (before the test). Hold a discussion according to each parameter: number of blades, blade length, and angle of blades. See downloadable resources for explanations about wind energy.
step 5
Discuss the advantage of using wind energy to generate electricity, and what factors affect the efficiency of the turbine. See Appendix 2 for explanations.
step 6
Next, discuss the disadvantages of generating electricity using wind.
- Dependence on the wind
- Low yield
- Noise pollution
- Impact on birds
- Impact on microclimates
- Spoiling the view
- Production process
- For supplementary information to support delivery, see downloadable resources.
step 7
Students will conclude the lesson by discussing the current status of wind energy in the world. Wind energy is a common and available renewable energy resource. As of the end of 2017, there were electricity-generating wind farms all over the world, with a combined capacity of over 651 gigawatts. These farms are responsible for producing approximately 5.6% of the world's electricity. Most wind energy production is on land (621 gigawatts), while the rest is produced offshore.