Harnessing the Power of Wind

For this project, students will engage in the processes of scientific inquiry and engineering design to explore concepts related to wind power and energy transfer. The curriculum is designed to provide enjoyable, challenging, and hands-on learning experiences to students that will allow them to apply their science and engineering knowledge to topic of renewable energies. Students will be introduced to concepts in physics, electronics, aerodynamics, and climate science. Students will be able to discuss the structure, function, and behavior of wind turbines and physics concepts such as energy transfer. Students will engage in numerous design/redesign cycles to optimize the design of a wind turbine to create the highest output power within a given set of constraints. The design includes many variables that are developed by the students during a class discussion at the beginning of the project. In addition, students will have the opportunity to learn the engineering skills of representation, drawing, and experimentation to fully understand the engineering process.