Lesson 3 of 5 · Scientific Models

Experiment⭐ 30 XP

Renewable Energy in Practice

🧪Lab Brief #3

Scientific Models.

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

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Mind = Blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

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Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

What You'll Learn

Solar and wind generate cleanly but only when the sun shines or the wind blows. Matching supply to demand needs storage, interconnection or backup generation, which is why the engineering problem is a whole-system one, not a single-device one.

Key Words

Tap a word to see its definition.

Materials Needed

card
pencil
small motor
voltmeter
electric fan
tape

Safety First

Keep fingers and hair clear of the fan blades.
Use the motor as a generator only — do not connect it to mains.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

Read the explanation above and note the two key terms before you start.

Step 2 — Do

Build a small wind turbine from card blades on a pencil axle and measure how the voltage from a small motor changes with fan distance. Plot output against distance and relate the shape to real wind farm siting.

Step 3 — Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 — Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 2

The main engineering challenge with solar and wind is that supply is:

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

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Where you see this in real life

This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

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Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

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For the dinner table

“What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

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