Make a Wind Turbine

 

There are over 130 wind farms in the UK. Wind turbines produce a renewable form of electricity.  The wind turns the turbine blades, which transfers this energy to a generator to produce electricity.  

You may need an adult to help you with parts of this activity!

The first thing that we are going to do is make the base for the wind turbine. To do this you will want to tape a kitchen roll tube to a piece of thick cardboard. Make sure that you use lots of tape so that it is secured properly

You are then going to tape the lolly sticks to the top of the kitchen roll tube. Tape them on opposite sides and so that 3/4 of them sticks above the top of the kitchen roll tube

You will next want to get 2 paper cups. Make a hole in the bottom of each paper cup and then tape them together with the tops of the cups together. 

Cut a small circle out of thick card and make a hole in the centre. Make 3 slits at equal distances around the circle. We will be attaching our turbine blades to this circle. Cut 3 rectangles out of the thin craft card and bend them to make your windmill blades. Make a small slit into each turbine blade.

Slide each rectangle turbine blade into the card circle.

You now need to put the three sections of your wind turbine together. To do this you are first going to take your wooden skewer and slide it into the holes in your taped paper cups. It should run through the middle of both cups. You can then tape your paper cups to the top of your kitchen roll base between the lolly sticks. The last thing that you need to do is add the turbine blades. Push the wooden skewer through the hole in the centre of the thick cardboard circle. Use some sticky tack to hold it in place. 

Your wind turbine should now be ready to test!

You could try and improve your wind turbine design by experimenting with a different shape of wind turbine blade, or by using a different material to make them. You could even try using a different number of blades and seeing how this effects the design.

The video tutorial for this activity is available on the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page or YouTube Channel

Spin around and around...

   

For our next science activity we are going to be making a wind turbine!

We will be releasing this activity on the Surrey Libraries Facebook page on Thursday 4th March at 4:30pm. 

For this activity you will need:

• Thick Card
• Kitchen roll tube
• Tape
• Sticky Tack
• Wooden Skewer
• 2 Lolly Sticks
• Scissors
• Thin Craft Card
• 2 Paper Cups

For more information watch this short introduction video 

Follow Surrey Libraries on Facebook and Twitter for the latest information and don't forget to visit Science Club on the Surrey Libraries YouTube Channel 

Making Parachutes

 

Parachutes are used to slow down an object falling to the ground. There are 2 forces acting upon the parachute – gravity and air resistance. Gravity is the force that is pulling the object down to the ground. Air resistance slows the parachute down so that the object can land slowly. It is affected by the size and material of the parachute.

We are going to make some parachutes and then test them to see what we think makes the best parachute. 

The first thing that we are going to do is make the bottom for the parachute. We are going to use a paper cup and make 4 holes at equal distances around the edge.  

We are then going to cut 4 pieces of string and tie these in place through the holes 

You next need to decide what material you want to use for your parachute. I have chosen fabric for this example. Lay your material out flat and put your paper cup in the centre. Pull your strings out towards the 4 corners and tape them in place

Your parachute is now ready to test. You can test it by dropping it and seeing how much it slows the paper cup down. You will probably want to go outside to test your parachute.

Once you have made one parachute you can make some other parachutes to test other materials and see what works the best. You may like to try tissue paper, and plastic carrier bags or see what other things you have at home that may work well.

You could also try experimenting with different size and shapes of parachutes and see how this affects the speed the paper cup falls, or you could try dropping the parachute from different heights (you may need an adult to help with that).

The video tutorial for this activity is available on the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page. or YouTube Channel

Watch them fall!!!

 For our next science activity we are going to be experimenting with parachutes!

We will be releasing this activity on the Surrey Libraries Facebook page on Thursday 25th February at 4:30pm. 

For this activity you will need:

• Paper Cups
• Scissors
• String/ Wool
• Tape
• Tissue Paper
• A Plastic Bag
• Fabric

For more information watch this short introduction video 

Follow Surrey Libraries on Facebook and Twitter for the latest information and don't forget to visit Science Club on the Surrey Libraries YouTube Channel