Wind Turbine Project

Project Resources Include:

• A complete curriculum planning document containing all the lesson plans for the project.
• Lesson Slides for both the Design & Technology and the Computing Lessons.
  These are available as PowerPoint Slides and as Promethean ActivInspire Flipcharts.
• Example 3D models of two turbine designs, sliced for the Ultimaker 2+ Connect 3D printer.

This is designed as a cross curricular project, covering elements of the Geography, Science and Computing Curriculum, however the main focus of the project is on Design and Technology and Computing (CAD).

The main aim of this project is to help students understand the process of creating a prototype through to imagining the final product.  Initially the students are introduced to what a wind turbine is, through their Geography lessons they find out about the importance and sustainable energy, specifically in this case turning wind into electrical energy.  From this, a supplementary lesson is done in Science focusing on how electrical current is created through the motion of the wind turbine.

Armed with this knowledge, the project then focuses on Design and Technology elements by which the students will design, create and build their own working wind turbine.  To begin with the students, create a drawing on the basic principles of the wind turbine, this is often just a rough sketch and involves annotated and or audio comments around its dimensions and materials.  From this the students create a prototype using card and straws, forming the basis of their final product design.  Next, the students create a final piece which involves designing the wind turbine in Tinkercad and 3D printing it, then assembling the model and electrical components to try and get an LED to light up through wind power. Finally the students test and evaluate their models.

CREATE Education would like to thank Dr Thomas Cousins from Pendle Primary Academy for sharing this resource with us.