Physical world – design and production investigation

This investigative task focuses on energy transformations between kinetic (movement), electric and light energies. Students design, test and evaluate a system that uses energy transformations to meet an identified need. They work in pairs to design and construct a wind turbine tower that demonstrates how different types of energy can transform. The blades of the wind turbine generate kinetic energy, through motion, which is then transformed to electrical energy as the blades turn the shaft of a small hobby motor. A small red LED, attached to the terminals at the back of the hobby motor, illuminates as this electrical energy is transformed to light energy. No soldering, alligator clips or wires are needed for this investigation.