BAE funding brings wind turbine project to life for Pendle Primary Academy children

By Dominic Collis
Published 13th Oct 2023, 14:20 BST
Updated 13th Oct 2023, 14:20 BST
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Children at Pendle Primary Academy have completed an exciting wind turbine project as part of a BAE funded Inspired Learning Primary 3D Printing programme.

As part of the project, a member of staff at Pendle Primary Academy received a day’s CPD training in the use of the 3D printing technology, followed by a half term loan of an Ultimaker 2+ Connect 3D printer which enabled the school to run 3D printing projects with its children.

Dr Tom Cousins, a Year 6 teacher at Pendle Primary Academy, introduced the school’s children to the technology and ran a wind turbine project with them.

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They began by creating a drawing on the basic principles of a wind turbine before creating a paper prototype using card and straws. They then used cardboard and electrical components to get an LED to light up through wind power. From these prototypes, they were able to use the 3D printer to print out one of their designs and adapt and improve it based on their findings.

Children at Pendle Primary Academy have completed an exciting wind turbine project as part of a BAE funded Inspired Learning Primary 3D Printing programmeChildren at Pendle Primary Academy have completed an exciting wind turbine project as part of a BAE funded Inspired Learning Primary 3D Printing programme
Children at Pendle Primary Academy have completed an exciting wind turbine project as part of a BAE funded Inspired Learning Primary 3D Printing programme
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Dr Cousins said: “Having the ability to realise something in 3D space is vital for young children, as sometimes ideas and concepts are quite abstract when presented in more traditional forms. The introduction of the 3D printer sparked interest and real-world outcomes for the children.

“The wind turbine project using the 3D printer allowed us to bring several parts of our curriculum to life. They used their knowledge of sustainable energy from Geography, learnt about how electrical current is created in Science and used their Design and Technology skills to design and create their prototypes.”