Windmills and marble runs

Physics sounds like a difficult subject but really, it's happening all around us in everyday things. Our multilingual physics activity days, funded by the Institute of Physics, explored the conservation of energy, kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy and considered the advantages and drawbacks of wind power. It sounds tricky but you can do it through making games, building structures and playing with different kinds of energy.

At the physics activity days, children worked in groups to build windmills and marble runs. All of them produced a windmill that was capable of lifting a marble, and there were some impressive marble runs built. Along the way, they learnt about how electricity is generated and the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources. 

​

Check out our resources below if you want to have a go at building your own windmill. The resources are available in Chinese, English, Polish, Ukrainian and Urdu.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​