How does a Sailboat Work?

The experiment is accompanied by the story of Lilu’s and Alina's return journey home using wind, an environmentally friendly renewable energy source. Throughout the experiment, the focus is on sailboat design and energy transfer. Does the sailboat float or sink? Which materials can be used and why? Focusing on the question “What is wind and how does it form?”, the videos help students discover how wind is created and how to convert the movement of air into motion energy.

The activities offer students the opportunity to explore the structure of a sailboat through floating and sinking phenomena and to think deeply about the materials used in sailboat design and the energy source that keeps the sailboat moving. The activities aim to develop students' communication, collaboration, analytical thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and innovation skills.

Energy is a physical quantity that plays a central role in all areas of physics as well as in technology, chemistry, biology and economics. Its forms include kinetic energy (movement energy), thermal energy (heat energy), radiant energy, chemical energy, elastic potential energy, etc. In the energy industry, primary energy is the energy contained in energy sources that have not yet been further processed (sun, wind, water, etc.). With the young target group in mind, the texts in this unit do not differentiate between physical types of energy and forms of primary energy. The terminology can be differentiated for older students.

When discussing the questions suggested above, you can have your students do the interactive exercise "How does a sailboat move?" You can also download and copy the h5p file by clicking on the "reuse" icon in the bottom left corner.

Solution for teachers

The correct order is:

1. The sun heats up the air.
2. Warm air rises.
3. Cold air flows in.
4. The flowing air pushes the boat.

Most of the vehicles used for transportation use fossil fuels, which are non-renewable energy sources. Fossil fuels are formed from fossilized organisms. Oil, natural gas and coal are the most common types of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel resources are finite and at risk of running out in the future. In addition, the accumulation of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere resulting from the use of fossil fuels causes the greenhouse effect. For these reasons, it is very important for our future to reduce the use of fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy sources.

Based on this, in this video, students are expected to design a sailboat for Lilu and Alina, who want to return home from the island, using renewable energy source, wind energy. The aim of the video is to raise awareness about environmentally friendly vehicles that do not use fossil fuels through different designs that demonstrate the conversion of renewable energy sources into motion energy.

For boat design, materials that float in water should be used. Cork was used in this video. Cork is obtained from the bark of the cork oak tree. Cork has a porous structure. Since its pores are filled with air, it can float on the water surface. In the sponge boat video you can learn how substances with air-containing pores can float on water.

The sun is our most important source of energy. Solar energy can be converted into various forms of energy. To generate wind, solar energy is first converted into thermal energy. Because land and water surfaces heat up differently, the air masses above them are heated to different degrees. This creates wind (see section "How is wind created?"). When this wind energy hits the sail of the boat, it is converted into kinetic energy, which enables the sailboat to move forward.

• Wind is moving air.
• Warm air rises, cold air falls down to the earth.
• When warm air rises, something is missing where the warm air was before. This is called low pressure. Air flows into it from the surrounding area where the air pressure is higher.The movement of this colder air is the wind we can feel and perceive.
• The sun is our most important source of energy. Solar energy is transformed into heat energy in our atmosphere, land and seas. The atmosphere, land and seas heat up at different rates under sunlight. Land warms and cools faster than the sea, while the sea warms and cools more slowly. This temperature difference between land and sea allows the air to move. We call this air movement wind. You can observe wind formation by placing two containers filled with soil or sand and ice under the light and burning an incense.
• Wind energy allows the sailboat to move.

Easier

You can promote the activity in different ways to involve different groups of students in your class. For example, you can tell the story of Lilu and Alina through reading, drawing or drama. This can help to reach the whole class. Individual learning plans can be prepared for students who have difficulty with group work, while students who have difficulty with individual learning can work in groups. During the sailboat design process, students can be encouraged to reflect on their own ideas and thoughts, while support can be provided according to individual needs.

More challenging

For higher level student groups, wind formation processes can be elaborated on the particles that make up the air, particle movements and air pressure.

As this activity aims to demonstrate energy transformations through engineering and design processes, it can be linked to the following professions:

Marine and ship engineering, naval architecture

• To learn more about marine engineers, you can watch this career girls video.

Materials engineering

• To learn more about materials engineers, you can watch this career girls video.

Energy systems engineering