On Wednesday afternoons we have been following the topic “Winds of Change”. This week – which is Science Week – we had a look at how we generate electricity.

About two centuries ago, Michael Faraday discovered that if a magnet and a coil of wire moved passed each other an electric current was generated in the wire. We saw that if we shook a coil of wire with a magnet in the middle that a very small amount of electricity was made. By using a bigger coil or a stronger magnet or moving the magnet faster we could make more electricity. The next problem is, how do we make the magnet or coil move fast in order to make the electricity?

For the last hundred years we have burnt coal, oil, gas or biomass (dried plants) to heat water up turning it into steam which then turns big “fans” (the turbine) which turn a coil inside a circle of magnets.

We looked at how we can use the wind instead to turn the coil. We have been very fortunate to have some small wind turbines donated to us and we hope soon to have them set up in school to charge a battery, we will then use the electricity generated for other projects in the school garden.