Building Science Fair & Classroom Wind Turbines

The best way to learn more about the science behind electrical generating wind turbines is to build some small models and start doing some experiments. Building and testing your very own electrical generating turbine is an exciting project that includes a great deal of complicated science and math! Engineers, meteorologists and scientists have been working on wind energy for millennia and they are still learning new things all the time.  So why not dive in and try your hand a building a wind turbine!

 

The first decision you have to make is what kind of wind turbine you want to build. There are many different ways to build turbines that try to harness the energy of the wind.  There are geared and direct drive wind turbines. There are horizontal axis and vertical axis wind turbines.  There are upwind and downwind turbines. There are big and small ones. Plus there are the many different names you can might here to describe these types darrius, savonius, HAWT, VAWT, egg beater and so on...

If your head is spinning right now, don't worry! You may find it helpful to poke around our website and learn a little about the basics of electricity and wind energy before you jump in. If building a model wind turbine from scratch isn't for you, don't forget that you can always buy a Kidwind Wind Turbine Kit. It will come to you in the mail and you'll be experimenting in no time! If you do decide to "do-it-yourself," you will really learn a lot once you start building and getting your hands dirty.

 

Plans & Ideas for Building a Wind Turbine

 

There are a lot of factors to consider when building your wind turbine. Fortunately, all of these important factors can make for interesting experiments and activities to learn about the science behind wind energy. These pages will give you more information and ideas as you get started:

• Wind Turbine Design
• Blade Design
• Power Output
  • Measuring power output
  • Factors that affect power output
• Wind meteorology
• Generators and motors
• Parts and materials for model wind turbines

Be sure to check out the Kidwind Wind Energy Science Fair Kit and other Kidwind Wind Turbines!