To add a tangible and more concrete dimension to our discussions on global warming we constructed small wind turbines. Wind power is a well known and low-cost renewable energy source. The turbines helped the students learn about the practical aspects of harvesting renewable energy. The students had to develop their own wind blade designs and test their blades on a nearby rooftop. The maximal power produced with the small turbines was 3.5 mW.

Students designing the blades for their wind turbines.



Building a low-tech structure to test the wind turbines inside.

Trying to use the energy generated from the wind turbine to power a water pump.

Heading to the roof of the parking garage to test our turbines.

And here is the winning turbine.

It recorded 2 volts on the multimeter. We were able to capture the reading at 1.5 v.

And of course, you can't do wind turbine testing with breaking a few of them!