Kristie Thorpe and Lynne Bennis
 
                                                                        WIND ENERGY
 

OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to recite some uses of windmills and name places in the United States where wind energy is used. Students will build pinwheels and conduct experiments with them to evaluate how wind effects windmills.

 

MATERIALS: Directions to make a pinwheel, K'nex, fans, pictures of windmills, map of the United States.

 

SOURCES: Energy.New York: Macmillan/Mcgraw-Hill School Publishing Co., 1993.                    Zubrowski, Bernie. Wheels at Work. Illustrated by Roy Doty. New York: Morrow, 1986.

 

PROCEDURE: 1)Ask students the question, "What causes wind?" (When sun heats the atmosphere the warm air rises and the colder air moves in below. This moving air is called wind.) 2)Show pictures of windmills. Ask students the question, "What are windmills used for?" (grind grain, saw wood, generate electricity, and pump water.) 3)Show students a map of the United States and point out the locations that use wind energy. (Texas to Montana--Western United States) 4)Distribute K'nex cases and directions. Have students make pinwheels. 5)Have the class experiment with blowing air directly on to the pinwheels, from the side, at an angle, etc. 6)Have the students experiment with blowing on the pinwheels at different distances from their body. 7)Discuss with the students the best position and distance from the body that was most effective in making the pinwheel move. 8)Ask the students questions about what they learned about wind energy. "What causes wind?" "Where is wind energy used in the United States?", "What are some uses of windmills?"

 

EVALUATION: Observe the students making the pinwheels. Ask students questions about what they learned about wind energy and discuss their answers.