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Winged wheel - water-powered machines, 2007

For children aged 6-9

Ροδούλα φτερωτή

Duration: 2 hours

Location: Folklife and Ethnological Museum

Purpose: acquainting the children with aspects and values of our traditional culture and making them more aware of their cultural heritage

Objectives: familiarizing the children with the winged-wheel and its importance in machine technology since the pre-industrial era.

The programme is linked to the exhibition ‘In the mills of Macedonia and Thrace: Watermills, sawmills, cloth finishing waterfalls and fulling mills in the traditional society'.

A few words about the programme: What is a winged-wheel? What are water-powered machines?

The winged-wheel is a kind of wheel with blades which is revolved by running water; the rotary movement continues as long as water continues to strike the blades. Thus the wheel was able to revolve continuously without human intervention.


ροδούλα

The winged-wheel is a kind of wheel with blades which is revolved by running water; the rotary movement continues as long as water continues to strike the blades. Thus the wheel was able to revolve continuously without human intervention.

The history of the winged-wheel is of particular importance in the evolution of technology, because it is connected with the functioning of the very first labour-producing machine, the watermill. This was a water-driven machine, in which the water turned the wheel, which in turn moved the millstone to grind the wheat into flour. In the history of technology the watermill marks the transition from the era of tools to the era of machinery.

The first water-driven machine proved to be so important that it was subsequently used as the model for later machines. Thus a winged-wheel installed in a stream next to a saw became the sawmill for cutting logs into planks for use in construction; when installed next to a hammering or pounding mechanism it became a fulling mill, used to process the woollen garments so essential for keeping man warm.

Are there still machines operated by winged-wheels today? What else is a hydro-electric power station with its water turbine?

The children feel the force of the moving wheel - which for them actually speaks and moves, turning with its paddles, made tangible through its constructions, playing games and making up stories about millers, using the power of imagination… Through the various activities the children also enjoy another valuable experience: learning to set their own winged-wheels in motion, using the power of mind and heart …
 
The educational material for the programme is currently being prepared.

It will consist of:

a. game-book (‘The winged-wheel and water-powered machines'), 
b. instructions for parents and teachers (‘The winged-wheel and water-powered machines'), 
c. folder with material and instructions for making a toy windmill,
d. invitation to enter competition (‘Make your own mill'),
e. illustrated story for young and old (‘My name is Winged-Wheel'),
f. game (‘Learning from mistakes at the mill!').

Implementation: Viki Xatziparadisi
Planning: Foteini Oikonomidou, Viki Xatziparadisi

ροδούλα

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