HYDROPOWER Science Toys for Kids | Age 8+

HYDROPOWER – Science Toys for Kids
By Thames & Kosmos, USA

STEM: Science-Tech-Eng-Maths
The 21st Century focus. For young Leaders of the future.

HYDROPOWER: Our children are gifted with the power to invent and achieve amazing technological feats. It’s through creative play that they learn how to exploit these skills.

Ever mused how the enormous energy of water can be harnessed? Ever wondered why water is an important source of renewable energy? Or how water can generate electricity? At the core of all these are the principles of HYDROPOWER.

Man has used Hydropower for hundreds of years in watermills. We often use it to generate electricity in applications such as hydroelectric dams and tidal power plants.

So what is Hydropower?
It is power that is generated from the enormous power of moving water such as rivers. It is considered a source of renewable energy.

Renewable Energy
By using a dam or a river to generate electricity we use little of the Earth’s limited resources like coal or oil, which are often called ‘Fossil fuels’. Fossils are the remains of plants and animals that lived thousands of years ago, usually found deep under water or the earth’s surface.

This makes Hydropower a form of renewable energy. Hydropower is also clean power that generates little pollution, because almost no fuels are burnt that will then release carbon into the atmosphere.

How do we get power from water?
Falling or flowing water from a big river has a lot of energy. We can harness this by forcing the water through a pipe called a penstock. As the water flows through the pipe it turns the blades of a turbine which spins an electric generator. As long as the water is flowing, the generator will be able to provide electricity.

History of Hydropower
Using rivers to power mechanical devices is not new. In ancient times, people used it for tasks such as grinding grain into flour. In the late 1800s scientists figured out how to use hydropower to generate electricity.

The first hydroelectric power plant was built in the USA in 1882. Since then, many more have been built the world over, including the Snowy Hydro in the Snowy Mountains, and the Hoover Dam in the US.

HYDROPOWER Science Toys for Kids: With this kit explore the power of water by building models and conducting experiments with them. Learn how to use different devices to extract useful energy from a waterwheel in a small stream to a giant turbine in a tidal power station.

In addition build a waterwheel, a sawmill, and a hammer mill to harness the energy of moving water to do different types of physical work. Also investigate the intriguing properties of water by performing experiments involving surface tension, adhesion, and cohesion. Another lesson is how we can use water pressure to building a water tower, communicating vessels, and a water fountain.

Construct a hydroelectric power station to generate electricity and light an LED. Learn about where the energy in ocean waves, tides, and rivers comes from. Discover how we can generate electricity from them with these HYDROPOWER Science Toys for Kids.

Lessons:
• learn about water pressure and the power it generates
• how different devices are used to extract useful energy from moving water
• the effects of surface tension, adhesion, and cohesion
• finally learn about energy from the ocean waves, tides, and rivers.

Experiment Manual: Click here

The HYDROPOWER Science Toys for Kids includes:
• 32-page illustrated guidebook
• also step-by-step, easy-to-follow hands-on experiments
• 12 fun experiments
• 105 included parts

Awards:
Parents’ Choice Recommended Award

Ages 8+
Box Dimensions: 37 x 29 x 8 cm
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD – Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.

Thames and Kosmos HYDROPOWER Science Toys for Kids