Bring the engineering design to life with the KidWind Challenge. Check out a KidWind Turbine Kit and try out some free lessons! You could have students research previous wind turbine designs to see the purpose and results before creating their own design. You could use this sheet for students to test, let's say they start with the number of blades.
The kit includes the following items:
Check out our Gear Ratio Activity here.
This activity was originally created for the 2023 KidWind Challenge as the Instant Challenge. During this 15-minute activity, students will create different gear ratios and evaluate which ratio would benefit electricity production the most.
Materials and Resources:
The “Measure the Distance” activity is done as a walk. Students pick a prominent starting point such as a stop sign, building, or telephone pole. From that point, they walk in a single direction while using a measuring wheel. As students reach the “height” of one of their landmarks, they will place the appropriate flag in the ground at that point. This activity helps students visualize how large the turbines actually are. Adding in local landmark heights, such as your school or water tower, also helps bring this into perspective.
How fast do you think the blades on a wind turbine are spinning? Faster than a cheetah? Challenge students to line up (locked arms) in a straight line. One student represents the hub (in the center) and will not move, just pivot. The person at the end of the line represents the tip of the blade and they will be moving quickly. Challenge students to make one rotation as quickly as they can while staying in a straight line! An extension to the activity is to record the time - check out our example "Tip Speed Spreadsheet" below for calculations.
This activity was originally created for the 2022 KidWind Instant Challenge. During this 15-minute activity, students will evaluate and analyze three separate maps to determine the best location for a wind farm in a magical land. They’ll need to meet the Ruler’s requirements, avoid dragons and dinosaurs, and generate a pro and con list for each map.
To prepare, gather these items for each group of 3-4 students:
