KidWind Balsa Wood Blade Sheets

Balsa wood is very lightweight, stiff, and easy to cut, carve, and shape. It is perfect for making experimental wind turbine blades. In fact, some real wind turbine blades use balsa wood "skeletons" inside fiberglass!

While corrugated plastic also works well for wind turbine blade designs, balsa wood is lighter and thinner, allowing for some very efficient blades. Check out the airfoil balsa for even more advanced blades. These sheets are 12 in. long, 3 in. wide, and 2.5 mm. thick thick.

You Can:

• Cut and shape your own wind turbine blades
• Experiment with number of blades
• Experiment with size and shape of blades
• Experiment with angle of blades

Concepts

• Understanding differences between energy and power
• Exploring concepts of lift, drag, and torque
• Understanding angles
• Developing and using physical models
• Understanding the relationship between forces and motion
• Understanding the relationship between energy and forces
• Understanding clean energy
• Exploring energy transformations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Optimizing designs
• Designing controlled experiments