Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Science of Everyday Life: 3 M Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Do you think you can design a wind turbine that supplies energy to 400 homes at the highest efficiency and lowest cost? Try your hand at turbine design in this interactive activity that allows you design, build, and test a device to...
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: 3 M Science of Everyday Life: Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Design, build, and test an energy efficient wind turbine that will supply 400 homes with electricity for one year.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Build Your Own Windmill Generator
Build your own windmill and see how the wind can be converted into energy to produce electricity. This science fair project should help you understand the use of wind as a source of alternative energy. The Science Buddies project ideas...
State Energy Conservation Office-Texas
State Energy Conservation Office: Wind Power Basics [Pdf]
A mini-unit on wind energy. Students first read a passage about wind energy, and respond to comprehension questions. They then do a lab activity where they build and test a windmill to see how design and placement of the windmill affect...
Other
Canon 3 D Paper Craft Buildings: Windmill
Intricately detailed paper-folding activity that provides templates and instructions for building a three-dimensional paper model of a windmill. Instructions require download.
Museum of Science
Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Activities: Build a Wind Turbine
Step-by-step instructions, with photos, of how to construct and test a wind turbine that produces energy. This experiment does require preparation as it uses PVC pipes, a small motor, and a multimeter, for example.
Other
Seeds Foundation: Energy Literacy Series: Wind Energy
Explains all about wind energy, what it is, how it is produced, potential benefits and costs, etc.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Wind Generator
Using a voltage sensor, students will measure how much "electricity" is produced by the wind turbine that they design and build. Students will experiment with blade designs to see which one collects energy from the wind the most...
Other
How to smile.org: Build a Wind Turbine
A step-by-step guide to build a wind turbine. Using their wind turbine, learners test how much energy is created by using a variety of wind blades and wind speeds.
Creative Science Centre
Creative Science Centre: How to Make Your Own Windmill
Instructions for building a windmill using wood.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Wind Power!
Students learn how engineers transform wind energy into electrical energy by building their own miniature wind turbines and measuring the electrical current it produces. They explore how design and position affect the electrical energy...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Wind Powered Turbine
On this site, there is a challenge for students to engineer a machine that converts wind power into mechanical energy. This site also includes a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Wind Powered Water Pump
With this design challenge, students can build a wind-powered turbine that can pump water up from the ground. This site contains tips to complete the design challenge as well as a place for students to document their engineering design...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Wind Power
In this activity, students develop an understanding of how engineers use wind to generate electricity. They will build a model anemometer to better understand and measure wind speed.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Wind Powered Sailboat
Powered by the wind watch your boat move through the water. This challenge has students making a boat using simple household materials. The website also includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Build an Anemometer
Students create their own anemometers which are instruments for measuring wind speed. They see how an anemometer measures wind speed by taking measurements at various school locations. They also learn about different types of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Harnessing Wind
This lesson introduces the ways that engineers study and harness the wind. Students will learn about the different kinds of winds and how to measure wind direction. In addition, students will learn how air pressure creates winds and how...
Read Works
Read Works: Catch the Breeze
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about windmills using wind power as a source of electricity. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Other
Texas Council on Economic Education: Building an Economy: Texas Experience [Pdf]
A 14-lesson, 169-page unit on the economic history of Texas. Lessons cover the free enterprise system, the economic patterns and motivations of Native Americans and various immigrant groups, the impact of the closing of the frontier, the...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Solving a 'Windy' Problem
The wind is a powerful force, enough to erode whole hillsides over time. Building structures in windy environments challenge civil engineers with special safety concerns. A wall in a windy area can either shield you from the cold or fall...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Build a Rubber Band Paddle Boat
Build your own bathtub or pool toy from simple craft materials in this fun activity. You will build a rubber-band-powered boat that can zip across the surface of the water after you wind up the rubber band.
Better Planet Productions
Earth Care: Movers and Shakers [Pdf]
Wind is created in areas where there are temperature shifts. For this lesson, Grade Two students will investigate areas of their schoolyard where there are 'wind tunnels' and 'wind shadows'. They will then use this information to...
Read Works
Read Works: Electricity & Energy Energy
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about energy. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Environment
Through 10 lessons and more than 20 hands-on activities, students are introduced to the concept of an environment and the many interactions within it. As they learn about natural and human-made environments, as well as renewable and...