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Summary:
During yesterday’s lesson on Dirty Energy, we discussed wind energy as one possible solution. Today, students put that lesson into practice. Harnessing the wind has been going on since at least the 9th century, but only recently have we begun to use wind to make electricity on a wide scale. So we began a competition where students will attempt to harness the wind and produce electricity. Students paired together and began building a small set of windmill blades that will be hooked up to an electric generator. The group whose design spins the fastest, thereby creating the most energy, will be the winner. Students will finish building their windmills tomorrow (I usually give them two days to build), and on then Thursday we will conduct our testing.

Resources:
May 29 – Building Windmills (pg715).docx
May 29 – Building Windmills Directions for Teachers.pdf