Lesson 3: Investigate the Factors Affecting Wind Power Generation Efficiency
PREPARATION
ENGAGE
Show the following table to guide students to think:
Pose the following questions to spark students' curiosity:
What other factors might affect how much electricity a wind turbine can produce? How do you think the speed impacts the amount of electricity generated?" Encourage students to ask additional questions, and make initial prediction about the relationship between wind force and power generation.
EXPLORE
Provide students with small-scale wind turbine models. Instruct them to set up the models in a controlled environment and use fans to simulate different wind speeds. Students should adjust the distance between fan and wind turbine to create varying wind forces, record the power output readings from the Voltage detection module(Analog Voltage Divider) for each wind speed. As they conduct the investigation, encourage students to think freely about the possible connections between distance and power generation, test their predictions and hypotheses, and meticulously record all observations and ideas in their science notebooks.
Core Teaching Steps:
Hypothesis Formation:
Ask students to predict how increasing distance (between fan and turbine) will affect the turbine's output voltage.
Connection:
Coding:
the power output could be read from the Voltage detection module(Analog Voltage Divider), here is the sample code:
Data Collection: Run the program at different distance and record the corresponding voltage values. To obtain more accurate results, take multiple measurements at each distance and calculate the average value for recording.
EXPLAIN
Gather students for a group discussion. Have each group present their recorded data and share their interpretations of the relationship between distance and power generation. Guide students to use the data they collected to construct a reasonable explanation. Prompt them to consider questions like: "Based on our data, how does an increase in distance, combined with a change in wind speed, affect the amount of electricity generated? Can we identify any patterns or trends in our results? How do our findings compare with our initial hypotheses?" Encourage students to listen critically to others' explanations, refer back to the exploration activity, and use evidence from their experiments to support their arguments.
Core Teaching Steps:
Data Presentation:
The presenter should display the organized data (table or graph) and clearly point out the values for different distance and the associated power outputs.
Here is a sample line graph:
Constructing Explanations:
Guide students to use the data as evidence to construct a reasonable explanation for the relationship between wind force and power generation. Provide some frameworks if needed, such as: “First, state your claim about how wind speed affects power generation. Then, use specific data points from your experiment or other groups' experiments to support your claim. Finally, explain the scientific reasoning behind why this relationship exists.” Walk around the classroom to assist groups that may be struggling with formulating their explanations.
CHALLENGE
This segment focuses on how wind direction affects wind power generation. Through simplified theories, simulation experiments, and data collection, students will understand the relationship between wind direction and power generation efficiency, learn to design experiments using variable control, and attempt to solve practical layout problems.
Core Teaching Steps:
Theory Introduction:
Wind turbines are designed to have maximum efficiency when the wind blows directly into the face of the rotor. This direction of wind is known as the headwind. It should be noted that wind turbines can still operate in other directions, but they will not be as efficient.
Headwind(0°)
When the wind is blowing directly into the rotor blades, the turbine operates most efficiently. This situation creates the highest wind speed over the blades and, therefore, generates the most power.
Control Variables:
Keep the fan distance the same. Adjust the fan’s angle to simulate different wind directions (0° = headwind, 30°/60°/90° = off-angle winds).
Measure and Record:
Test the voltage 3 times at each angle and calculate the average. Use a simple table like this:
Data Analysis:
Graph Drawing: Use a bar chart to show the average voltage at different angles (x-axis: angle, y-axis: voltage).
Here is a sample line graph:
CONCLUSION
Ask: "Which wind angle gives the most power? How does power change when the angle increases?"
Summarize: Headwind (0°) is most efficient. The larger the angle, the less power generated.
Program-L3.zip 
