Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum Exhibit
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is an interactive STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) museum in Ann Arbor. This museum is home to many exhibits that promote development of science understanding through exploring, experimenting, and educating. Children and adults alike discover new knowledge through the imaginative processes encouraged by the museum.
Since its opening at the historic firehouse in 1982, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum has brought together scientists, designers, artists, engineers, and innovators to present fun and educational stations for visitors of all ages.
To find out more about the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, check out their website: https://www.aahom.org/
The museum obtained a grant from the city to proceed with a wind energy project and we were chosen as partners to collaborate on this project. We worked throughout the school year to deign and build a functional wind turbine to be presented at fairs. This turbine will educate the public more on sustainable energy and more specifically, wind energy.
This project was not only an engineering design project for us to build a transportable wind turbine, but also an educational avenue for us to get involved with our community. We also volunteered at the museum's outreach activity days where kids of all ages and their families can experience the hands-on learning that they facilitate.
Project Overview
Photo credit: George Piliouras and Associates Website
Objective
In past years, our team worked specifically with only one part of the community through our partnering with teachers, however, this year, we wanted to grow in our scope. Rather than focusing on just one classroom, we aimed to reach a bigger audience through several fairs and activity days with the museum. With this great opportunity, we can educate our community on wind energy and sustainability. Our goal was to use every aspect of the turbine we built as an educational tool so that the audience could experience how a wind turbine works and what the power can be used for through our demonstrations.
Photo credit: Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
Photo credit: Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum
