“I like authentic learning tools,” says a fifth-grade teacher at Allen Elementary school in Ann Arbor. “I could use videos and pictures off the Internet, but wouldn’t it be much more exciting to get a real-life demonstration?”
Energy is part of her fifth-grade science curriculum, and for nearly four years, Cindy Johengen has been collecting resources to build a small-scale wind turbine outside her classroom to demonstrate applications of renewable energy to her students. This year, we partnered with Mrs. J to finally bring her dream turbine to life.
Allen Elementary Project
This fall was Woven Wind’s first semester partnering with Allen Elementary. The initial step in designing a turbine is to collect data on the wind; we sent Cindy’s students out to take these measurements for us. The children spent a little time every day recording wind speeds and directions at four potential locations for the wind turbine. Mrs. J sent us the results and we used them to brainstorm design ideas.
Once we had design plans under way, we visited the class a few times introduce our plan for the turbine. We introduced them to basic engineering concepts by planning hands-on activities using K'nex, generators and LEDs, a small-scale PVC blade prototype and CAD models. Check out pictures from our activity days!
Project Origin
What are we doing about it?
How did we accomplish our goal?
After the team established a solid design for the wind turbine system, we began to build. Woven Wind team members generally spent the majority of their Saturdays up in the Wilson Project Team Center building and testing different components of the turbine. Near the end of the year, when it came down to crunch time, members spent even more time in the WPTC perfecting and tweaking our build to ensure it met all safety standards and design requirements.
When all the components of the turbine were completed, we took it outside to test it. Everything went according to plan!
Check the photos from one our build sessions and when we setup it up for the first time!
What was the outcome?
In late April, all of our hardwork paid off when we went to Allen Elementary to install and demonstrate our functional wind turibne to Mrs. J's 5th grade class. It was a perfectly sunny and windy day; exactly what we wanted. Prior to setting it up, we held mini-workshops so the students and parents in attendance knew exactly how each component of the turbine worked. After checking that everything worked properly, we setup the turbine. We plugged in an application to be powered, (a cell-phone in our case), to show that wind energy can be used as an alternative power source.
The following week, several team members went back to Allen to educate and tell other classrooms and teachers the overview of the turbine. Student's from Mrs. J's class helped teach other kids as well.
Woven Wind plans to continue collaborating with Allen Elementary to further educate young minds on sustainable technology and basic engineering concepts.
Check out coverage from our big day!