Wind power gathers speed

Activities

NOW (Public Broadcasting Service, USA)

Wind power – students build models of wind turbines and experiment with changes that can increase efficiency.

Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)

Measuring wind speed – students construct an anemometer using a protractor and ping pong ball and use it to measure wind speed.

Power for a sustainable future (Queensland Department of Education, Australia)

Teacher resources – provides an extensive list of activities and fact sheets on different forms of energy.

Energy Quest (USA)

Building a wind gauge

Making an anemometer

Newton's Apple (USA)

Windsurfing

InnovatED (Australia)

Your lesson plan – wind harvesting – provides a series of six lessons on the use of wind as a power source.

Science upd8 (UK)

Riches from the wind – this numeracy activity appeals to students' entrepreneurial sides. They calculate how much they could make from wind power and decide whether wind turbines are a good investment.

So windy – students investigate the energy properties of air and wind, calculate the kinetic energy of wind at different wind speeds and apply this knowledge to consider the uses and dangers of wind.

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Page updated February 2007.