Blow your students away! Get them engaged and learning about how we can harness the power of wind by building their own wind turbine. If you're using Edrolo Year 7 Science at your school, you can access a full risk assessment for this activity through Risk Assess.
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Lesson focus/ Guiding Questions ‍

In the past, windmills were used to grind grain, pump water and cut wood. Now, as we look for sources of electricity that are better for the planet, wind turbines are being used to generate electricity too! As long as the Earth keeps orbiting around the Sun, and the Sun keeps shining, wind will always be available. But how do we harness it?

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Lesson Outcomes:

Students will

• be able to construct a wind turbine
• generate electricity from wind energy.

Prior Knowledge

What does your class already know about wind energy?

Discuss how it is created and how it can be used.

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Teacher-led activity 

Materials:

1 x small hobby motor (6-12 V) 

1 x LED light 

1 x medium paper cup

1 x small paper cup

1 x scissors

4 x popsicle sticks

1 x small drill with drill bit matching size of motor shaft  

1 x hot glue gun and glue

Windy day, fan or hair dryer on low

Method:

1. Thread each end of the LED light into either hole of the hobby motor terminal. If the circuit is complete, the LED will light up when the motor shaft is twisted.
2. Design and construct your own windmill using the motor and other equipment.
3. Find some wind, get those blades spinning and see the light turn on!

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Check out our integrated Global Wind Day maths activity to get students interrogating their results.

Teacher note: If the LED is not lighting up, try reversing the direction of electricity by swapping the LED legs to the opposite terminals.

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Student-led

See the curriculum mindmap below and ask students to investigate the questions related to what you are currently covering in class! 
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Extension

What happens if the blades change? Investigate the effect that changing the size, amount or angle of blades has on harnessing wind energy.

What happens if the wind is stronger or gentler? Investigate the impact of changing wind strength.

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