Try to Catch the Wind…

How can we begin to imagine the potential harnessed power of the sun and the wind?

Forces of Nature is a new initiative, recently installed on the museum’s Rooftop Ramble, that uses a windmill and solar-powered flowers to teach children about sustainable ways of collecting, producing, and using wind and solar energy.

The new wind-generated water pump will help children visualize and understand the power of the wind. At first glance, it looks like an ordinary windmill you’d find on a farm. But look closer and you’ll find that the wind powers a pump which draws water up and then sends it cascading through a Rube Goldberg–style machine until it is collected in a tuba-like horn at the bottom.

A solar flower feature, where flowers move with the sun’s energy, provides opportunities for children to experiment with solar energy: Move the pads to cover or uncover the solar panels and watch the giant metal flowers respond as they spin above.

These Forces of Nature features complement the long-standing rooftop solar panels installed on the roof.  We’ve also added a bird-themed, model electric car to the Clubhouse.

Information on sustainable energy is readily available online and in books. But learning about solar and wind power in an interactive and beautiful environment—with the wind and the sun on a child’s skin as they explore—will teach lessons that will be uniquely understood and remembered.

We hope Forces of Nature will expand children’s understanding of sustainable energy, planting the seeds for a society better prepared to use sustainable energy systems.

Forces of Nature exhibit components were generously supported by Madison Community Foundation, MG&E, and Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation. Watch for phase II rooftop improvements in September of 2019.