Reviews of Thames & Kosmos Alternative Energy and Environmental Science Wind

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List Price: $49.99
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This is sad, I don't think they could have used cheaper materials. "Cut out the wind vane from the last page of the manual". The blade pieces barely stay together, let alone form actual blades. I have not even passed the building process for this thing and I want to send it back. On a positive note the manual is informative and educational.

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This wind kit is very flimsy, one piece broke while trying to fit it together. It's all cheap plastic, I couldn't imagine having to put this outside in the wind, it would not last five minutes. It's good for some education purpose, but the price is way to high I wouldn't pay no more than twenty dollars max. so you guys owe me change.

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As a science teacher, I can say this a great educational teaching tool, but it's also a bit challenging. It says for ages 8 and up, but it's probably more appropriate for 10 and up. I got it for my almost 8 year old science-psyched son and we decided to put it away for at least 6 months since many of the activities were more difficult than he was ready for at this time.

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They had a great idea, the concept was wonderful but the parts are just "off" a little bit. Why wouldn't they go that last 5% and make sure the tabs fit in the slots right, and the drawings on the fan piece actually match up with the holes where they're supposed to attach? That design problem is really detracting from the amount of fun the toy could be, and it's just sloppiness on the part of the manufacturer, which is really disappointing when you spend so much money.

We had to use tape to hold the fan blades together, as the tabs just didn't fit in the slots without warping the wings all out of shape (and then the tabs kept popping out anyways). It's hard, with the shape of them, for wind to actually make the turbine move. I wonder if the people who wrote favorable reviews actually put it together yet.

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I bought this for a science club I was starting at my son's school. We are studying windmills and wind turbines. He is in 2nd grade and the children participating are, for the most part, 8 years old. My son has built similar things before, mostly out of Lego's or K'Nex, and can finish a project like this in about two hours with some assistance. This is NOT a toy and will require some adult help. The instructions are so-so. I am working with the teacher in the class, mostly with paring of children that can work well with their hands. Eight year olds get excited and are hard to control from time to time so, again, adult supervision is a must. If you combine this with lessons on wind, wind mills, and wind turbines, the children will get much more out of this than by simply putting this together and watching it spin. It is made out of very strong materials and should last so that other experiments can be done as the children grow. The blade material is very thin plastic and will break if handled roughly. I used tape to secure the tabs. The friction produced by the various gears and rods is high on this windmill so you will need a very strong wind or a very strong fan to get the LED to light. I needed two indoor fans. Seeing how this was put together I will try to build one out of metal gears and rods, I would use the blades provided, and use grease or oil to cut down on the friction. I would not use oil on plastic parts.

I ended up buying two of these one to see how it is put together and one to use in class. Overall, the kids had fun, I had fun, and we all learned a great deal.