Rosa M. Moye
Jodi Morningstar
ITDPT 364-006
K'nex Science Lesson Plan
 
 
 

WINDMILLS
 
 
                                    Grade Level:  Fourth

                                     Objective:
   
                                     The students will be able to design and conduct a scientific experiment investigating how windmills
                                     operate.   They will be able to present the results of the experiment with a visual model of a windmill 
                                     constructed from K'nex toys.

                                     Materials: K'nex toys, Wind and Water Energy by Sherry Payne, A Book of Windmills and
                                     Wind power by Landt  Dennis.
 

                                    Motivation: We will take a field trip to an area farm to observe a windmill.  The students will take
                                    notes of their observations in order to set up the experiment.  The students will observe how fast or
                                    slow the windmill goes, what direction it rotates, and any other observations that they notice.  We
                                    will take the information found back to the class and develop a scientific experiment to investigate how
                                    windmills operate.

                                    Procedure:  The students will be divided into investigation teams of two.  Their group will form a
                                    hypothesis of how windmills operate.  From the hypothesis the students will devise a plan to to test it.
                                    They will write out their plans step by step and begin to carry out the plan.  Their plan must include
                                    evidence of scientific research and be derived from scientific resources.  They will then present their
                                    findings to the class and discuss why or why not their hypotheses were correct.

                                    The final presentation will consist of a written report, an oral presentation, and a finished model
                                    windmill made from K'nex toys.  They can follow the directions provided with the K'nex
                                    toys as a model for the construction of  their group windmills.
 

Challenge: The students will take the information they have received from their reports to build a huge windmill as a class. The class windmill must have a wind wheel that spins the propellers as well as any other parts that help to make it look more realistic. The windmill must be built entirely from the K’nex toys. The students can use the directions for the larger windmill as a model, but are not required to use them.

 

End of Procedure:  The students will follow the written directions provided with the K'nex toys in order to construct their model windmills.  As they are building it, they should be able to note the various parts and where they should be located, regardless of instructions.
 

Evaluation:  Listening to see if the students followed the steps of the scientific method are ways to tell if they understood the meaning of the project.  Hearing their reports and watching them build their own windmill will also be an indicator of how successful the assignment was.