Ann Arbor Open is a K-8 school of choice in the Ann Arbor school district. We began our partnership at Ann Arbor Open in the fall of 2016. While Woven Wind led outreach days with interactive presentations and hands-on activities in the classroom, we worked to design a wind turbine for the roof of Ann Arbor Open. We strive to involve the 5th and 6th grade students in the design process by visiting the school throughout the year to conduct several educational workshops.
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum is an interactive STEAM museum in Ann Arbor. The museum obtained a grant from the city to proceed with a wind energy project and we were chosen as partners to collaborate on this project. We worked throughout the school year to deign and build a functional wind turbine to be presented at fairs. This turbine will educate the public more on sustainable energy and more specifically, wind energy.
A2 STEAM at Northside is a new K-8 school in the Ann Arbor school district. We collaborated with fifth grade classrooms at A2 STEAM on a wind turbine project. The turbine powers two in class applications: an LED display and a pump, which is part of an aquaponics system. Through these activity days, the students are able to understand the engineering concepts used in wind turbines and develop an innovative, engineering way of thinking.
This international project began with the help of the organization SERES, a non profit focused on empowering people to become leaders of their own sustainable change. Six Woven Wind members travelled to Guatemala to participate in a Collaborative Laboratory (CoLab). Together, the sixteen attendees of the CoLab participated in team building activities and idea-sharing discussions to raise awareness about wind energy.
Woven Wind partnered with Allen Elementary. The initial step in designing a turbine is to collect data on the wind; we sent students out to take these measurements for us. The children spent a little time every day recording wind speeds and directions at four potential locations for the wind turbine. We introduced them to basic engineering concepts by using K'nex, generators and LEDs, a small-scale PVC blade prototype and CAD models.
Woven Wind designed a small wind turbine system with the blades made of textile woven material. We implemented a prototype in Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, a village in Guatemala. The team closely collaborated with a women weaving cooperative in the village to co-design the blades. Not only will the turbines provide clean energy, but they will empower women with jobs, as well as display the beautiful textiles and patterns of each community.