PDF《Wind Tubes》

7 This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-04-52567. Any opinions. findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. WHY IS THIS A PLAYFUL AND INVENTIVE EXPLORATION? It's a playful and inventive approach to learning about the effects of moving air This is a playful and inventive way of exploring airflow, drag, symmetry, turbulence, air resistance, and gravity. Ideas build on one another By making observations about the ways in which an object behaves in the air tube, new designs can be realized, constructed, and immediately tested. New uses for everyday objects Seeing common objects such as strawberry baskets, and plastic containers behave in surprising ways leads to unexpected experiments with, and new tests of these things. Participants explore variables Although everyone is exploring similar scientific concepts, the experiments vary widely because of all the possible ways of changing the variables.Variables include the weight, shape, and surface area of the objects;

fins and other add-ons that allow the objects to spin (or float gently in the wind);

the diverse use of art materials to balance the floating creations;

and the variety of ways that everyday objects are used. RELATED IDEAS Vertical wind tunnels While the vast majority of vertical wind tunnels were created for recreational use, some of the earliest were produced for aerodynamic testing. http://www.bodyflight.net