Erin Helbig, Carolyn Stoughton, & Kai Butler

Lesson Plan - Wind Energy

Purpose: Students will understand how wind blows through the blades of a wind turbine and
how the variability in the wind affects how much energy is produced in wind turbines/windmills.

Grade: 3rd grade

Materials:
● Square piece of construction of paper for each person
● Push pin for each person
● Stapler to share
● Scissors to share
● Pencil for each person

Procedure & Time:

Activity Timing Procedure

Introduction to 2 min. We will talk about the importance as a renewable energy resource.
Wind Energy For example, wind energy does not produce harmful pollutants and
is readily available in many parts of the United States. We will also
show students part of a video to show how a wind turbine harnesses
wind energy: https://www.youtube.com /watch?v=tsZITSeQFR0
[0:55-1:15]

Making 8 min. We will talk about how we are going to make windmills to show how
Windmills (2 extra wind blows through the blades, as well as how the variability of the
mins are wind can affect how fast the blade goes/how much energy is
available if produced because of that. Next, we will model how to make a paper
we need windmill. The steps are below:
more time) 1. Fold your paper diagonally in half
2. Unfold the paper to make it flat and then
fold it diagonally in half again in the
opposite direction
3. Unfold the paper to make it flat again
and cut each fold crease on the corner
edges about half of the way into the
center
4. Use a hole punch to make a hole in the
bottom left corner (directly next to the cuts that were
previously made) of all 4 of the triangular pieces
5. Make a hole in the exact center of paper (about the same
 size as the hole punch holes)
6. Fold each side of the paper (with the hole
punches) up along where cuts have been
made to line up with the center hole
7. Once all of the holes are lined up in the
center of the paper, use a stapler to
secure the folds down
8. Take your push pin and place it through
the single hole that is left in the center of
the paper
9. Push the push pin into the eraser at the
top of your pencil (not too tightly in or out)
10. Start blowing to see your windmill spin!
After modeling the windmill making process, we will help students
make their own. One of us will follow the above steps to make the
windmill with them as they make it (at the front of the room), and the
rest of us will walk around to see if students need help.

Reflecting on 2 min. After each student has their windmill completed, we will demonstrate
our Windmills how different wind amounts can cause different amounts of energy
to be produced (slower = less energy, faster = more energy). We will
do this by blowing on the windmill to show how light blowing causes
the windmill to move slowly and heavy blowing causes the windmill
to move quickly. If some of the students’ windmill does not move
when they blow, they can move the windmills slowly and quickly with
their hands. Then, we will go on to explain that the energy from
windmills in real life depend on the amount of wind available.

Independent 1 min. Students will independently play with their windmill by either blowing
Exploration the windmill or moving it with their hand to see how the amount of
wind affects how fast the windmill blows, and therefore how much
energy is produced.