Wind turbine | ingridscience.ca

Summary

Convert wind energy into electrical energy, by hooking a generator (backwards motor) to a low-volt LED light.

Science content

Physics: Energy forms, Conservation of Energy (1, 3, 4, 5)

Physics: Electricity, Electromagnetism (7)

Earth/Space: Sustainable practices, Interconnectedness (2, 5, 7)

Science competencies (+ questioning + manipulation + others that are in every activity)

Questioning/predicting: predicting (1 up), hypothesizing (7)

Processing/analyzing: comparing observations with predictions (1 up)

Evaluating: inferring (3 up)

Evaluating: identifying environmental implications (1 up)

Vernier motor with attached wires taped to super red bulb

hand-spinning a different motor to light LED bulb (harder to light with breath)

wind turbines, driven by heater airflow, hooked up in parallel to a bulb

Lessons activity is in

Wind energy - a sustainable energy source

Energy from fossil fuels and renewable sources

Carbon cycle, fossil fuels and renewable energy

Materials

motor, high voltage for relatively low rpm (this Vernier motor recommended)
'super red' low voltage LED bulb (1.9-2.1V worked for me)
little fan e.g. dollar store mini windmill, or purchased propellor

Procedure

Note that a motor and a generator are the same device, run in opposite directions.

First test that the generator can generate enough voltage to light the bulb:
Attach the bulb to the motor terminals (check orientation) and spin the shaft with a flick of your fingers.
If the bulb briefly lights up brightly, the motor might also work with a blade attached.

Either use a purchased propellor, or make your own:
Take the handle off a mini windmill (dollar store fine), and glue a dowel or other shaft through the blades, which can be drilled out to fit snugly over the motor shaft (often 2mm diameter).
Attach the fan to the motor shaft.

Students tape the motor wires to the LED terminals on their desk, matching black to black and red to red. They blow on the fan/propellor to make the motor turn and light the bulb.
(Using an alternate motor to the one recommended, it may take quite a hard breath to get the bulb to light, and your breath might have to be at just the right angle. A leaf blower may spin the fan fast enough to light the bulb.)
Students can build multiple wind turbines into parallel circuits. Blowing on them simultaneously lights the bulb more easily and brightly. (It can also make a stationary fan turn as power from one turbine feeds to another.)

A real wind turbine has huge blades with a shape designed to best catch the wind. The generator is housed in the ‘nacelle’, along with the gearbox which translates the rotation of the blades to a speed that effectively turns the generator. 
Diagram of the parts of a real wind turbine: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Wind_turbine_…
Vertical rotor blade designs: https://windmillstech.com/vertical-axis-wind-turbines/
Extensive wind energy education site: https://windmillstech.com/

Notes

Activity inspired by https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/light-wind
It took quite a bit of messing around to find a suitable motor or enough wind power to get this working (a leaf blower can give more wind than your breath! or try can of compressed air?)

Technically, a turbine is the part with the blades, but for wind energy, they call the whole thing including the generator a turbine.

Grades taught

Gr 3

Gr 4

Gr 5

Gr 6

Gr 7