Intro: Hydroelectricity

Hydropower Inventions

Intro: Wind Energy

Harnessing Wind Energy

Intro: Solar Energy

Solar Energy Sensing (micro:bit)

Renewable Energy

Writing and sketching reflections in a student journal with the design process of vertical and horizontal wind turbines.

Student Journal

Challenge students to learn about sustainable development in wind power, as they discover where strong winds blow on earth and the history and future of wind power. Students will also make wind turbine prototypes and further their learning with extension activities.

You are viewing the American-English version of this resource. [Click here to view in British-English.](/course/gb-city-building-course/gb-harnessing-wind-energy-lesson)

🇬🇧 Teacher Notes

#### Lesson Structure

When students go through this lesson in each section, the objectives they will learn are:

* **Warm-up** – Explore what causes the wind and global wind patterns.
* **Imagine** – Discover the past, present, and future of wind power and its contribution to sustainable development.
* **Create** – Create a simple vertical wind turbine and tinker with catching the wind.
* **Build** – Build a larger wind turbine as a model for wind power.
* **Reflect** – Share your learning through written reflection on wind power and wind turbines.
* **Challenges** – Extend your turbine prototypes and further your learning through creative open-ended challenges.

#### After this lesson students will be able to:

* Recognize that fossil fuels are derived from the earth and that their use affects the environment.
* Make an argument for wind energy as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
* Explain the process of energy transfer from the wind to another object through the use of windmills and/or wind turbines.
* Articulate ways that people have utilized wind energy throughout history.
* Compare and contrast various wind zones on earth.
* Describe how wind energy helps to address climate change.
* Create wind turbine prototypes that harness wind energy.
* Evaluate future uses and applications of wind energy.
* Differentiate between careers in wind energy.

Teacher Notes

Overview and Objectives

Materials

Facilitation and Collaboration Work

#### Teachers: Preparing Your Students (25-50 min)

When students begin the lesson, they start in [Overview and Objectives](#overview-and-objectives), then transition to this [Preparation](#preparation) section. Presented in their view is a vocabulary list of terms and infographics illustrating concepts across STEAM domains throughout this entire lesson.

There is a journal and optional short intro lesson for preparing student readiness for their first engagement of new terms and content knowledge. Print or distribute the student journal digitally. 

* Review the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)](https://sdgs.un.org/goals) blueprint based on global needs to create a more sustainable world by 2030 before starting the lesson. (5 minutes)
* Read through the vocabulary list. (5 minutes)
* (Optional) Pick a shorter, introductory lessons to further supplementing the guides. Assign lesson to students and start. (25 minutes)
* Prepare an environment for wind. (15 minutes)

#### Wind Source

Use a continuous source of wind power such as a fan to ensure motion. If a windy day, it's possible to place this project near an open window or test outside. This project's turbines are lightweight enough to spin blowing with lung power, too!

#### Sustainable Development Goals (5 minutes)

Review the [Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)](https://sdgs.un.org/goals) blueprint based on global needs to create a more **sustainable** world by 2030 before starting the lesson. (5 minutes)

Student journal

#### Vocabulary (5 minutes)

This is the list of vocabulary terms used throughout the lesson. They will be in **bold** and listed throughout the different sections and in **Student Journal** asset. Students can always revisit the vocabulary definitions with media and questions in the lesson. (5 minutes)

### Optional Intro Lesson (25 minutes)

(Optional) Pick an introductory lesson to use with guides. **Students won't see these unless assigned to them by you.** (25 minutes)

Preparation

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

The Warm-up section is designed to stimulate student interest and wonder in planetary wind patterns and global wind power through text and media. Warm-up takes a broader look at wind formation and patterns. The information and questions in this section supports the remaining NGSS and Common Core standards listed in the standards. Teachers can use their discretion in planning the best time in their schedule to work through these rich sources with students. Warm-up can be read independently, with partners or small groups, or in a whole group setting.

#### Windy Planet

Wind is caused by the earth’s rotation, and the sun as it warms the earth.

* The earth’s equator receives the most direct sunlight. Heat energy from the sun warms the air. As the air temperature rises, the air molecules rise. This creates a low pressure system.

  * Colder air from the poles forms high pressure systems. These systems move from high pressure areas to lower pressure areas. This motion of air molecules from one place to another is the wind.
* Some winds are called prevailing winds because they have a predictable pattern. Prevailing winds generally blow in a certain direction and in a common region.

  * The **trade winds** are one type of prevailing winds. They are located in the tropics region of both the northern and southern hemispheres. For thousands of years, seafarers have been dependent on **trade winds**. Modern shipping routes still depend on **trade winds,** which blow from east to west.
  * **Westerlies** blow in the opposing direction to **trade winds**, from west to east. **Westerlies** are located in the middle **latitudes** of each hemisphere. High pressure fronts from the poles help form **westerlies**. High pressure fronts are at their strongest during the winter. **Westerlies** create surface currents in the ocean and waves that travel around the globe.
* Not all locations on Earth are windy. Winds are very light in the horse **latitudes**. The horse **latitudes** are narrow regions between the **trade winds** and westerly winds. The horse latitudes are found in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
* Wind also springs up anytime two fronts meet. They occur when there is a difference in the temperature of  different air masses. This is common near large bodies of water, when the temperature of the air over land is different from the temperature of air over water.
* High winds are also generated in storms.

The sun heats the world unevenly, due to the tilt of the earth. The earth’s rotation also causes air masses to move in a curving direction. The uneven heating and the earth’s rotation causes air masses to move, which is wind.

Seafarers have depended on the trade winds for thousands of years.

#### Early Human Innovations with Wind Power

Anything that moves has **kinetic energy.** Kinetic energy is also called the energy of motion. The moving air molecules that make up the wind have kinetic energy.

* One of the first ways that humans have harnessed the **kinetic energy** of the wind was through sail powered boats. The force of the wind multiplied over the large surface area of a sail propels the boats.

  * Ancient Egyptians were among the first groups of people to use a sail. The earliest wind-powered boats from Egypt were reed boats and are thought to have appeared around 3200 BCE.
  * The Austronesian people also explored the vast Pacific Ocean and thousands of islands in wind-powered vessels from 3000 BC-1500 BC. Their great contribution to sail technology was the crab-claw sail, which could be configured in multiple ways on the small outrigger or double canoes they traveled in.
  * This remarkable feat accomplished by ancient people was achieved by their skillful navigation, sailing powered by wind.
  * Sails gradually increased in complexity around the world to power larger boats until the invention of the steamboat in 1796.
* Boats were not the only thing to be powered by the wind in ancient history. While exact dates are unknown, early windmill prototypes used sails attached to a rotating axle to perform tasks. The **kinetic energy** of the wind pushed the windmill sails around their axis, causing the axis to rotate and generating rotational energy. **Kinetic energy** is a type of mechanical energy. As the axis turned it could then do other work like grinding grain or pumping water.

  * The first windmill prototypes may have been constructed in China in 200 BC. These were used to pump water.
  * **Horizontal** windmills were also used in ancient Persian civilization between 600-800 A.D. The **horizontal** sails rotated around a **vertical** axis, and ground grains like wheat, rice, and corn. Additionally, these **horizontal** windmills, also called panemone windmills, pumped water.
  * **Vertical** windmills, with sails rotating around a **horizontal** axis, did not appear in Europe until the 12th century. These early windmill prototypes, called post mills, also rotated on the **vertical** post it stood on in order to face the wind.
* A major innovation in wind power occurred in Holland. While windmills had already been used to pump water throughout Asia, in Holland they started being used to remove and drain water from shallow lakes and ponds.

  * Because most of Holland lies below sea-level, this innovation allowed the reclamation of land, known as polders, for farm use and living.
  * Using windmills to drain lakes became wide-spread in the 1500s and 1600s, and they were also used to grind grains, spices, and to saw wood for the ship-building industry.
  * At the height of windmill usage, there were approximately 10,000 windmills in use in the Netherlands, with 1,050 still in operation today.
  * The Dutch contributions to the windmill include making a tower that was divided into an upper and lower part. The upper part could be rotated so that the sails of the windmill could catch the wind. The lower part was often where the miller lived!

**Kinetic energy** of the wind moves the windmill axle. The axle rotates and is able to perform work.

Holland lies below sea level. Therefore, removing water allowed more land available to farm and live.

Common Core ELA

Florida - NGSSS

Warm-up

#### Generating Electricity from the Wind

Windmills of the past and present used **kinetic energy** for sawing, grinding, and pumping water. Modern wind turbines are themselves an iteration of the windmill. The rotation of the blades causes a generator that is attached to the turbine to also spin and then generate electricity.

* Just like windmills of the past, there are two main types of turbines, those with a **vertical** axis, and turbines with a **horizontal** axis.

  * In the past, turbines with a **vertical** axis tended to be less efficient than turbines with a **horizontal** axis. Therefore, most wind turbines today have a **horizontal** axis and three long blades rotating around it.
  * Windmills with a **vertical** axis do not need to change orientation to catch the wind. Instead, their long curved blades are attached to the top and bottom of the axis and are able to catch the wind from any angle.
  * According to a principle called Betz’s law, it is not possible for a turbine to remove all the energy from the wind. If it did, the wind would stop blowing and air would not be able to flow through the turbine, and the blades would not be able to turn. Therefore, there is a limit on how much power can be derived from the wind.
  * Based on mathematical reasoning, Betz’s law theorizes that it is impossible to capture more than 59.3% of the wind’s energy. Even the most efficient of modern day turbines do not come close to capturing 59.3% of the wind’s energy.
* Wind turbines can also be categorized by their location.

  * Some turbines are in large wind farms on land and transmit their power to a transfer station. The electricity that once started as **mechanical energy** is then transmitted out to homes, businesses, and industries.
  * Wind farms usually have very tall **horizontal** windmills, and may have dozens or hundreds of windmills. These giants can reach as high as 32-story buildings with the combined height of the tower and extended blade. Wind turbines have to be spaced out from each other so that they do not block the wind.
  * Massive turbines called offshore turbines are assembled out over the ocean where they reap the benefits of strong prevailing winds. Many offshore turbines are even taller than the on land windmills. Offshore turbines can also generate even more power than on-land wind turbines.
  * Finally, some wind turbines generate power for individual consumers or co-ops and are referred to as distributed wind power.

In large scale wind-farming, **horizontal** axis turbines have so far been much more efficient at converting wind energy into electricity than **vertical** axis windmills.

The place offshore wind farms are positions means they can take advantage of consistent winds. Using the prevailing winds in the ocean are more reliable at producing electricity from wind.

#### Advantages of Wind Power

Around the world, people need energy for performing daily tasks like heating water, staying warm, and traveling to and from work and school. In 2019, the world consumed 173,340 terawatt hours of energy which includes the amount lost or wasted at production. Approximately 84% of this energy came from the fossil fuels of coal, oil, and gas.

* Wind is a **renewable** source of energy, just like solar energy. In 2019, the wind energy consumed was 3,157 terawatt hours, which also accounts for energy lost or wasted in production.
* Fossil fuels are **non-renewable** and emit more greenhouse gases than **renewable** sources of energy and sources of energy with a lower carbon footprint.

  * For example, a coal plant emits 820 tonnes of carbon dioxide per **gigawatt** hour of electricity produced, an oil refinery emits 720 tonnes of carbon, and a natural gas plant emits 490 tonnes of carbon.
  * By contrast, wind power emits the equivalent 4 tonnes of carbon per gigawatt hour of electricity produced. The wind itself does not produce carbon emissions, but the concrete and steel needed to initially make the components of wind turbines traditionally require the use of fossil fuels.
* The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outline the urgent need to promote better health and economic security for billions of people around the world. These goals also address protecting the planet and climate. Wind power supports SDG Goal 11: “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.” One of the indicators of this goal is to reduce the amount of air pollution caused by cities.
* Fossil fuels also create dangerous amounts of air pollution. Air pollution leads to 5 million premature deaths every year. **Renewable** wind energy does not cause air pollution, and lessening human dependence on fossil fuels can save millions of lives each year.
* Though it can be expensive to build and install wind turbines, wind turbines and wind farms have a lower operating cost than fossil fuels. The wind is also free to use! Furthermore, wind turbines can share land and sea for other purposes.

Wind power is 205 times cleaner than coal, as measured by how much carbon dioxide it releases into the air. Harvesting electricity from the wind itself does not actually produce any carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is from the manufacturing of the wind turbines.

**Renewable** energy is much safer and cleaner than fossil fuels. Countries need to devote more resources to renewable energy to save lives and help the planet.

#### Challenges Facing Wind Power

* Though wind energy has several crucial advantages over fossil fuels, there are challenges associated with wind power.

  * The first challenge is that except for certain locations that are always windy, the supply of wind in most places is not constant. Meaning wind turbines require some way to store energy during times of greater production.
  * Older models of wind turbines pose a hazard to bird and bat wildlife flying into the rotor blades.
  * Wind turbine models can be noisy, although many are not.
  * Some find windmills to be an eyesore, or a source of “visual pollution.”
  * As wind power continues to develop, many of these challenges are already being addressed in future designs.

Some areas do not receive a reliable, ongoing source of wind, and cannot generate electricity reliably with wind power. The other choices are all advantages of wind energy.

Innovation can help make wind power more accessible, affordable, and reduce the current limitations on wind power.

SDGs

NGSS

Imagine

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

You can have students work on the steps together in pairs or as groups of 3.

Build a pyramid for the turbine’s base

Build internal support and attach inside base

Make a rotating beam to hold the turbine blades

Make supports for turbine blades

Draw and cut 5 triangles  from paper then tape on supports for turbine blades

Attach the turbine blades in the rotating beam on the base

Test the vertical turbine’s rotation harnessing the wind!

Create

#### Facilitation and Collaboration Work

You can have students work on the steps together in pairs or as groups of 3.

#### Sharing Ideas

Students can test their wind turbines and offer feedback to other groups.

Begin building the wind turbine base with a bent beam

Create joints then attach to the bent beam

Make a joint for the back

Make a back beam with joint then attach to complete the base

Make a pyramid support on the turbine's base

Attach a connector through the pyramid for shaft support

Make a support beam for the shaft

Slide the support beam along the back of the pyramid

Lock the support beam with a connector

Make the shaft and slide through supports

Make rotor with 3 turbine blades by building beams and 2 support sides

Slide the straws of second side through beams then add connectors on each ends

Draw and cut out 3 paper rectangles then wrap around the supports before taping

Make beams then connect to the ends of blades

Wrap the connectors then click to secure corners

Attach the complete turbine rotor on the shaft

Secure the rotor to the end of shaft with a connector

Test the horizontal axis turbine design!

Build

For this section of the lesson, the following questions below can be discussed all together as a class or within each group. You can use the **Student Journal** as a helpful resource to capture ideas and process on the computer or printed ahead of time and distributed.

Reflect

ISTE Students

Challenges

References and Extra Resources

STEAM Classroom

United States

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

Goal 7

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Goal 11

Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.

4-ESS3-1

Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.

5-ESS3-1

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.*

MS-ESS3-3

Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.

MS-ESS3-4

Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

MS-ESS3-5

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

MS-PS3-5

Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

3-5-ETS1-1

Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

3-5-ETS1-2

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

3-5-ETS1-3

Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

MS-ETS1-1

Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

MS-ETS1-2

Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.

1.3.d Knowledge Constructor

Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.

1.4.a Innovative Designer

Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.

1.4.b Innovative Designer

Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.

1.4.c Innovative Designer

Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.

1.4.d Innovative Designer

Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.

1.6.c Creative Communicator

SS.4.G.1.3

Recognize that humans need resources found on Earth and that these are either renewable or nonrenewable.

SC.4.E.6.3

Identify resources available in Florida (water, phosphate, oil, limestone, silicon, wind, and solar energy).

SC.4.E.6.6

Observe and describe some basic forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, electrical, and the energy of motion.

SC.4.P.10.1

Investigate and describe that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.

SC.4.P.10.2

Describe how moving water and air are sources of energy and can be used to move things.

SC.4.P.10.4

Investigate and describe some basic forms of energy, including light, heat, sound, electrical, chemical, and mechanical.

SC.5.P.10.1

Investigate and explain that energy has the ability to cause motion or create change.

SC.5.P.10.2

Describe how global patterns such as the jet stream and ocean currents influence local weather in measurable terms such as temperature, air pressure, wind direction and speed, and humidity and precipitation.

SC.6.E.7.3

Explain how energy provided by the sun influences global patterns of atmospheric movement and the temperature differences between air, water, and land.

SC.6.E.7.5

Explore the Law of Conservation of Energy by differentiating between potential and kinetic energy. Identify situations where kinetic energy is transformed into potential energy and vice versa.

SC.6.P.11.1

Investigate and describe the transformation of energy from one form to another.

SC.7.P.11.2

Use geographic terms and tools to explain differing perspectives on the use of renewable and non-renewable resources in the United States and Florida over time.

SS.8.G.3.2

Describe human dependence on the physical environment and natural resources to satisfy basic needs in local environments in the United States.

SS.8.G.5.1

Describe how models and simulations can be used to solve real-world issues in science and engineering.

SC.35.CS-CS.1.2

Identify ways that technology can foster teamwork, and collaboration can support problem solving and innovation.

SC.35.CS-CC.1.3

Explain how text features contribute to the meaning and identify the text structures of problem/solution, sequence, and description in texts.

ELA.4.R.2.1

Explain how text structures and/or features contribute to the overall meaning of texts.

ELA.5.R.2.1

Explain how individual text sections and/or features convey meaning in texts.

ELA.6.R.2.1

Explain how individual text sections and/or features convey a purpose in texts.

ELA.7.R.2.1

Analyze how individual text sections and/or features convey a purpose and/or meaning in texts.

ELA.8.R.2.1

Explain how an author establishes and achieves purpose(s) through rhetorical appeals and/or figurative language.

ELA.8.R.2.3

Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a .

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.4

Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.7

Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.3

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a .

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.4

Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.7

Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7

Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.3

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.4

Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.3

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.