In this lesson, students use what they know about magnets, forces, energy transfer, and generators to engineer a vertical-axis wind turbine that generates a specific amount of electrical energy in both low and high wind speeds.
Prepared hands-on materials, full year grade-specific curriculum, and personalized live professional development designed to support mastery of current state science standards.
Mimicking Animals
Many engineers have studied the wings of hummingbirds because of their amazing flight abilities. They are the only birds that can fly both forward and backwards. They can also hover in mid-air, fly sideways, and even upside-down.
For example, engineers in North Africa are developing wind turbines that mimic the hummingbird’s wings as it hovers. A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into electrical power.
Other engineers have looked to other animals for inspiration about the shape of their wind turbines. Humpback whales and schools of fish have also inspired different designs, from the shape of the blades to their placement on the tower and the relationship of each turbine relative to the other turbines.
The Search for Efficiency
The main reason that engineers are searching for new ways to design wind turbines is to improve their efficiency. In any energy system where energy is being converted from one form to another, not all of the energy is converted to a form that can do work. Some is usually transformed into non-usable forms of energy.
A simple example of this is moving a box across the floor. You, the box, and the floor form an energy system. As you push the box, you are providing an input of force that transfers kinetic energy to the box. This kinetic energy is what causes the box to move.
However, as the box moves across the floor, the force of friction transfers energy out of the system by causing some of the energy of the moving object to change into heat. The more friction there is, the less efficient your energy system is because less kinetic energy is available to do the work of moving the box.
Engineers are always looking for ways to design technologies that transform energy as efficiently as possible. They want to generate more work while using less energy. This is true for wind turbines, which capture the kinetic energy of the wind.
KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning.
Discover hands-on screens-off core science curriculum for student centered K-8 classrooms. KnowAtom supports classrooms with all hands-on materials, curriculum, and professional development to support mastery of the standards.
