Mar. 29, 2006: Electricity From the Wind

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Draw a picture of yourself playing with friends on a windy day. Write a sentence telling about your day.

2. Collect newspaper stories and pictures that show the effects of wind. You might find an ad that shows a gentle breeze or a news story about a storm. Put your pictures and stories together to create a wind collage.

3. Interview several family members and friends. Ask them to name three good things about the wind. How many named wind as a source of energy? What answers were given by more than one person?

4. Which part of the nacelle does each of these jobs: (a) controls the speed of the blades of the turbine, (b) measures the speed of the wind, (c) produces electricity from the wind, and (d) stops the motor?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about wind turbines and wind farms. Use these questions to guide your research:

• Where are some wind farms located?
• How long have the wind farms been in place?
• How much money did it cost to put the wind farms in place?
• How long did it take for the wind farms to become profitable?
• What environmental issues were raised when the farms were established?
• What has been the impact of the wind farms on those environmental issues over time?
• What important lessons have we learned about wind farms?
  
  

This week's standards:

• Students understand changes in the Earth and sky. (Earth and Space Science)
• Students understand science and technology. (Science: Science and Technology)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)