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Simple Wind Generator

Provided by: Exploratorium |Published on: October 19, 2021

Videos

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Synopsis

In this activity, students build a small wind generator to light up an LED.

Related Teaching Resources

Subjects: Physics

Authors: Exploratorium

Region: Global

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

Written and video instructions are very clear.
There is an accompanying video with teaching tips.

Prerequisites

You will need to collect all appropriate materials before the students arrive to class.
If you do not have one or more fans in your classroom, you may have to wait for a windy day to conduct this experiment.
It may be best to show the instructions video to your students at the beginning of class.
Make sure to leave time at the end of class to clean up or set aside the wind generators.

Differentiation & Implementation

Students can work in groups.
If students complete the activity and their LED lights up, challenge them to iterate on their design to create a brighter LED.
Students who have great interpersonal skills can rotate around to other groups to help them create their wind generators.
If your students are interested in how wind energy can change a community, they can hear the story of William Kamkwamba.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format

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All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.