National Geographic
National Geographic: Stakeholder Debate: Wind Energy
Using a case study of the Cape Wind Project in Nantucket Sound, students examine the various points of view of stakeholders, and hold a debate to argue about the pros and cons of this wind energy project. Includes handouts for...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Working With Wind Energy
After studying wind energy, student teams design and test a windmill that has to meet specific criteria. Afterwards, they evaluate the success of their design and how they could improve it.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: 3 M Science of Everyday Life: Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Design, build, and test an energy efficient wind turbine that will supply 400 homes with electricity for one year.
Other
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts: The Energy Report: Wind Energy [Pdf]
Chapter 11 of a report on the energy industry in Texas. It looks at wind energy, its history, and how it is used. The wind power industry in Texas is described, its economic importance, how it is produced and transmitted, and its...
State Energy Conservation Office-Texas
State Energy Conservation Office: Wind Power Basics [Pdf]
A mini-unit on wind energy. Students first read a passage about wind energy, and respond to comprehension questions. They then do a lab activity where they build and test a windmill to see how design and placement of the windmill affect...
Other
Kid Wind Project: Wind Turbine Blade Design
Learn how blade design affects the power output of a wind turbine. This is a short description but links to extensive information, a PowerPoint, and a lesson on designing your own turbine blades.
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Wind Program: How Does a Wind Turbine Work?
This animated illustration shows how a wind turbine can generate electricity for homes and communities.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Wind Power O Logy Card
OLogy cards are like virtual baseball cards about all kinds of science topics. This card is about wind power. See if you can answer a few questions when you're done reading.
Museum of Science
Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Activities: Build a Wind Turbine
Step-by-step instructions, with photos, of how to construct and test a wind turbine that produces energy. This experiment does require preparation as it uses PVC pipes, a small motor, and a multimeter, for example.
State Energy Conservation Office-Texas
State Energy Conservation Office: Wind Power Basics [Pdf]
Looks at the basic science behind the production of energy from wind.
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Wind Energy
This short site provides an overview of wind power, along with links to technical information on wind power, history of wind power, and more.
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency: Wind Energy Technologies
Find out about the renewable energy resource using wind energy technologies. Learn about the use of wind for a stand-alone system, and how one uses it in large-scale wind farms.
Other
Seeds Foundation: Energy Literacy Series: Wind Energy
Explains all about wind energy, what it is, how it is produced, potential benefits and costs, etc.
Smithsonian Institution
Lemelson Centre: Spark!lab: Make Your Own Wind Turbine
A wind turbine is a machine that captures the force of the wind to produce electricity. Learn how to make a wind turbine as a student or as a teacher. An experiment can be downloaded.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Wind Generator
Using a voltage sensor, students will measure how much "electricity" is produced by the wind turbine that they design and build. Students will experiment with blade designs to see which one collects energy from the wind the most...
US Department of Energy
U.s. Department of Energy: Energy Savers: Small Wind Electric Systems
An interactive animation teaching how a wind turbine works to produce electricity.
Other
How to smile.org: Build a Wind Turbine
A step-by-step guide to build a wind turbine. Using their wind turbine, students test how much energy is created by using a variety of wind blades and wind speeds.
Creative Science Centre
Creative Science Centre: How to Make Your Own Windmill
Instructions for building a windmill using wood.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Renewable Energy Living Lab: Power Your School
Students use real-world data to calculate the potential for solar and wind energy generation at their school location. After examining maps and analyzing data from the online Renewable Energy Living Lab, they write recommendations as to...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Wind Power
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How wind can be used to generate power, and its consequences.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: High Altitude Wind Energy From Kites!
In this brief talk, Saul Griffith unveils the invention his new company Makani Power has been working on: giant kite turbines that create surprising amounts of clean, renewable energy. [5:22]
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12 Exploration Series: Simulations: Physics: Wind Turbines
[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn about the concept of efficiency as it relates to power generation at a wind turbine.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Power Your House With Wind
Students learn how engineers harness the energy of the wind to produce power by following the engineering design process as they prototype two types of wind turbines and test to see which works best. Students also learn how engineers...
Climate Literacy
Clean: Wind Energy Using Google Earth
In this activity students will use Google Earth to investigate ideal features of wind farms and they will use the Google Earth measurement tool to determine the estimated perimeter of each wind farm.