Wind Tubes is an activity that allows visitors to explore moving air with a variety of everyday objects. Something as simple as a clear plastic tube on top of a fan allows for the air flow to be constrained enough to be predictable in the ways in which it affects materials, while at the same time allowing for a broad range of materials to be tested. Within its walls a variety of common objects can be made to respond to the turbulent flow of air.
Strawberry baskets, craft sticks, ping pong balls, pieces of foam, all transform into aerial performers once they enter the tube. Theories and intuitions about how an object would respond are challenged, and soon enough participants start making modifications to their designs to meet their own goals: some try to make an object that will shoot as high as possible, others try to get something to hover at a fixed height for as long as possible.
Why we like it
What are the qualities that we value in this activity?
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.
We were interested in playing with the squirrel cage fans as a power source. Is there a brand/size/model you would recommend? Does it matter what the width of the tube is (we were thinking of a 3″ or 4″ diameter)?
I’d like to do this with my class, but wonder if it is just a regular fan that you use? If so, how do yo insure that no one sticks their fingers in the moving parts?
We’ve been searching for the right type of material to build this tube and came up with a simple, but slightly different idea. Home Depot has a clear 8′ sheet of corrugated PVC that you would use for a roof on a patio/deck (about $14). It’s wavy not smooth, but you can still watch your creations fly. We cut it in half and duct taped the two pieces together. It’s sturdy enough we didn’t need any embroidery hoops we just cut a 6″x6″ opening at the bottom and used duct tape to line the edges of the opening so there were no sharp parts.
Fortunately for us this sits very snug on our fan. We are just letting our kids play with it, but I’m still thinking we may want to drill a couple of holes and use zip ties to secure it just in case someone knocks it hard.
I’d love to build one of these for my Afterschool kids at the Y. Does anyone know where I could purchase the acetate sheet needed?
Hi George! Thanks for the inquiry; we get our acetate from Regal Piedmont Plastics. It is P.E.T.G., clear, .020×48″x96″. You can reach them at (510) 746-2200, or http://www.regalpiedmontplastics.com. Good luck, and let us know how they work out!