Activity (Hands-On)Grades 3 - 5
Wind Power
Students develop an understanding of how engineers use wind to generate electricity. Student teams build model anemometers to better understand and measure wind speed.
Figure 1. The Northern Power Systems North Wind 100-kW turbine at the NWTC south of Boulder, CO.Copyright National Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Wind Technology Center, http://www.nrel.gov/wind/
Engineers design and manufacturer machines that measure wind speed (anemometers) and convert wind into energy. They develop wind turbines that generate electricity by considering the Earth's surface, wind direction, average outside temperature, the impact by and on birds and insects, and the extreme forces on the turbine.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Explain how wind is used to generate energy.
- Explain how the use of anemometers is related to wind energy.
- Build and gather data from a model anemometer.
- Describe the relationship between changes in wind speed and changes in the rate of rotation of the anemometer.