CURRICULUM | SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY | ENGINEERING | MATH
“Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of, who do the things no one can imagine.” - Alan Turing
WIND TURBINE
BY MADELYN PHAM
PURPOSE
Understand the principles of energy
MATERIALS
Small hobby motor (6-12 volts), red/high-intensity LED, craft sticks, small paper cup, medium paper cup, hot glue gun, scissors, drill, drill bit that matches the size of the motor shaft
PROCEDURE
Cut the sides of the small cup into four equal parts. Remove the base to create four curved pieces that will be blades for the wind generator
Use hot glue to attach two craft sticks together at the center so they make a plus sign
Once the glue is dry, drill a small hole the size of the motor shaft in the center of the crafts sticks. This will serve as the frame for your blades
Glue a blade to each of the craft stick ends. The blade design has the greatest impact on the efficiency of the wind generator (this by the way is just one way to do it. After making this wind turbine and understanding how different types of energy takes place you can feel free to experiment on how you could change the blades or any other part of the wind turbine for the rotations to generate faster. You may be able to accomplish this by exchanging the small cups for something like aluminum foil where you could manipulate the shape of the blades and see if that will make the rotations go rapidly fast, or adding something to the wind turbine, etc.)
The hobby motor should have two small prongs sticking out of the back that serves as the terminals. Attach an LED on to the back of your motor by twisting each leg of the LED through a different terminal on the back of the motor. The position of the LED will depend on whether the blades with spin clockwise or counter clockwise, you may want to change the positioning after you’ve figured it out. Then slide your blade frame on the shaft of the motor
Glue one of each of the other two craft sticks on either side of the larger cup to make a stand that holds the motor above the cup like chopsticks. Glue the other ends of the crafts sticks directly to opposite sides of the motor to hold it in place. Make sure the motor is positioned so that the stand does not get in the way of the blades so it can turn freely.
You’ve now finished your wind turbine! But in order to turn on the LED that is attached to the motor you must go outside on a windy day to allow the blades to spin, or you can invest in a fan.