Competition Elements

Competition Elements

Every wind and solar team competing in the World KidWind Challenge will participate in several competition elements, including either wind turbine or solar home testing, a presentation for a panel of judges, 2-3 Instant Challenges (including an optional Joint Instant Challenge with the Collegiate Wind Competition), and the Quizbowl.

The judging, Instant Challenge, and Quizbowl components of Worlds will be scheduled for each team. Wind turbine and solar structure testing will be self directed in between the other Competition Elements during Worlds.

Bonus Points! There are 3 bonus points available that teams can earn BEFORE coming to Worlds. These must be completed by May 2nd in order to receive the extra points.

Complete your Team Profile with a working video (1 point)
Submit ALL Attendee Forms for people joining your team for Worlds (students, coaches, and chaperones) with Liability & Media Release Forms (2 points).

Learn what to expect and important rules for each element by clicking on the buttons below.

Competition Elements with a * next to them will be scheduled at a specific time for each team.

Wind and Solar teams will be scheduled for a judging session to present their structure to a panel of judges, discuss their project, and answer questions.

We will have more than one judging room going at a time, so multiple teams will be scheduled for the same session.

We encourage all teams to prepare a formal presentation and share supplementary materials which may include photos, data tables, notebooks, and/or project iterations.

Note: Each team MUST bring a hardcopy of their 1-page Executive Summary document. Middle School and High School teams are expected to create their own 1-pager. Elementary School teams may use the Executive Summary Template we provide. Guidelines and an ES Template will be released in February.

While we ask that teams include their team number on the Executive Summary, they won't be assigned until a few weeks prior to the event! The team number can be written onto the Executive Summary right before Worlds once they are posted on Team Profiles.

What to bring to your judging session:

Your physical turbine or solar home. Be sure to save any turbine-busting tunnel time until after your judging session.
An Executive Summary of your team.
- Instructions for MS & HS teams (coming Feb. 2025)
- Fillable PDF & printable PDF templates for ES teams (coming Feb. 2025)
A formal presentation prepared for the judges. This may include a poster board, physical items for the judges to view like design iterations and data logs, or digital slides that detail your process.
If you are preparing a digital presentation, you must also bring a way for the judges to view it. We will not have projectors available. We suggest bringing a tablet, with your presentation queued up, that can be placed in front of the judges so that they can view your presentation. Reach out to Meghan at Meghan@KidWind.org with questions about presenting digitally.

Each solar team will be scheduled for a 30-minute solar home judging session with a panel of judges. During this session, the team will have up to 10 minutes to present their design to the judges. The judges will have up to 10 minutes to assess the performance of the solar home under a solar array. The judges will have the remaining time to discuss the project, ask questions, and evaluate the students' knowledge.

Each team competing in the Wind Challenge will need to run their wind turbine through multiple distinct tunnels at the World KidWind Challenge, each with their own unique focus. All tunnels draw wind through the tunnel creating a much cleaner and more stable airflow. The size of the wind tunnel testing space is 48” x 48” x 48”. Keep in mind, though, that the walls move in a bit when the tunnel is running.

Each team must find time to test their wind turbines in the wind tunnels during Worlds when they are not participating in the other scheduled Competition Elements.

Tunnel Specifics

We will share specific details including wind tunnel speeds and the number of points a team can earn per tunnel in March 2025.

Depending on your grade you will need to receive turbine performance scores in several tunnels.

There will be a timer at each tunnel, each team will need to be out of the tunnel in 5 minutes from set up to testing.

Tunnel Testing Protocol

During tunnel testing, teams must run their turbines through each tunnel. Each team will receive a set number of tokens at check-in that they must trade-in to test their turbine in the wind tunnel.

Each tunnel will use a different color token and one tunnel run requires one token. You can assume that you will receive 2-3 tokens per tunnel, meaning 2-3 active runs per tunnel. Once the number of teams attending Worlds has been confirmed, we will finalize the number of tokens to be distributed.

Each tunnel will have a visible timer. Each team will have just 4 minutes to get their turbine set-up in the tunnel and complete their test. Tunnel judges can add additional time to the timer at their discretion.

TOKEN: Hand 1 tunnel token to the tunnel judge. Be sure the color of the token corresponds to the color of the tunnel.
TURBINE SET-UP: Place your turbine in the tunnel and connect the wires to the data logging hardware.
FANS START: The tunnel judge will turn on the fan and let the tunnel and turbine get up to speed. This will take about 30 seconds.
GO/NO GO CALL: At the 30 second mark, the tunnel judge will ask if you want to run a trial. You can say YES or NO.
DATA COLLECTION:
- If you say NO (you do not want to run a trial): Remove the turbine, collect back your token, make any adjustments and go to the back of the line.
- If you say YES: The 30 second trial begins. The only way that a test can be redone is if judges determine that there has been a Catastrophic Failure because your turbine has failed and/or your output has dropped to ZERO.

During the solar judging session, we will test each solar home in a solar testing rig., which is a bank of lights approximately 1 meter square positioned 1 meter off the table.

Students will place their solar home under the solar testing rig to an optimal position. Students will be able to turn on any switches, microcontrollers, or other controls that are part of their solar project during the judging session to demonstrate performance.

Your solar home will be tested during your 30-minute judging session. Teams can expect to be evaluated on the following criteria: circuit design, functionality, inspiration, creativity, aesthetics, materials, and knowledge about solar power.

Instant Challenges are an on-the-spot test of knowledge, skills, problem-solving, and teamwork. These Challenges will be included on each teams' individual Worlds schedule on Monday or Tuesday. They will not require any preparation prior to arriving at Worlds and all materials needed to complete each Challenge will be provided. The Instant Challenge results will be a part of each team's overall score at Worlds. Each grade division has their own set of Instant Challenges.

Teams will be scheduled to participate in a Quizbowl to evaluate their general understanding of clean energy. The 2025 Quizbowl will likely be in a Kahoot format and teams will complete the quiz together at the same time as the other teams in their age division. This element will take place in an auditorium-style room with questions projected on a screen and read aloud.

To prepare, teams can consult our 10 Big Questions About Renewable Energy resource to frame their learning.