Teacher’s Guide
Blowing in the Wind was created by WOW! Children's Museum with
inspiration from the Engineer IT! Exhibit from the Oregon Museum of
Science and Industry (OMSI). Blowing in the Wind is funded by a generous
grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the
Science and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), Boulder Tier III.
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Table of Contents
Section
Page
Introduction
4
Objectives and Standards
5
Background Information
Invisible Air
7
7
Where Wind Comes From
7
Air Resistance – Friend or Foe?
8
Bernoulli Principle and Lift
9
Wind Power - Putting air resistance to work!
9
Lesson Plans and Activities
Balloon Balance
10
11
Balloon Shapes
12
Beaufort Scale
13
Bernoulli Principle
15
Blow Painting
16
Fan Dance
17
Flower Pinwheel
18
Flying Seeds
19
Grocery Bag Parachute
24
Hot Air
25
How Heavy Is Air?
26
Kites
28
Lung Capacity
30
Make Your Own Plant Sprayer
31
Slippery Shapes
32
Streamlines
33
Things That Fly
34
Wind Timeline
35
Wind Winch
36
Wind Writing
38
Preparing to visit WOW! Children's Museum
39
Recommended Resources
40
Evaluation
42
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Introduction
Welcome to the prototype edition of the Blowing in the Wind
Teacher’s Guide.
Blowing in the Wind is a dynamic exhibit at WOW! Children's Museum about
air, wind, and flight. This guide provides ideas and resources for
incorporating these themes in the classroom and for making a fieldtrip to
WOW! a productive addition to the curriculum.
Our focus in creating this edition was to sift through the many resources
available in books and online to find the best content to pass along. As this
project evolves, we need your input to make this resource more valuable to
teachers. Please take the time to complete the Evaluation section, or email
your feedback to WOW! Science Coordinator, Nikki Delaney, at
nikkidelaney99@yahoo.com.
Blowing in the Wind is a fun way to learn about air and flight. Hands-on
activities and design challenges encourage students to explore the
properties of air and wind and discover the physical principles of flight.
Four exhibit clusters make up Blowing in the Wind. They are in the Science
Room and the Science Tower. The Science Tower Wind Tunnel is a vertical
wind tunnel where visitors can create and launch flying saucers and
parachutes. See whose parachute can soar to the top of the 22-foot
tower! Set up a model windmill and use it to generate electricity in the Wind
Test Zone. The Bernoulli Blower balances a ball in a stream of air and
illustrates principles of aerodynamics. With the Air Maze children
experiment using air to shoot balls through different paths in a maze of
tubes. Join us for a fun and educational fieldtrip.
Blowing in the Wind meets several Colorado Model Content Standards in
Science, Art, and History. Before you visit the exhibit, check out the
Objectives and Standards section of this guide. Identify which standards
apply to your grade level and use the activities to prepare students for the
visit. After your visit, follow up with discussion and more activities from this
guide.
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Objectives and Standards
Through use of the activities in this guide, students will demonstrate an
understanding of the following concepts:
• Air is all around us
• Air is made of matter
• Air has weight and exerts pressure
• Wind is moving air
• Wind can move other objects
• Air resistance slows moving objects
• Aerodynamics is the study of moving air, especially over and around
objects
• Moving air creates areas of low pressure
• Wind can be used to do work and is a source of renewable energy
The Blowing in the Wind exhibit addresses these Boulder Valley Science
Content Standards at the K-4 levels:
1. Students understand the processes of scientific investigation and are able
to design, conduct, communicate about, and evaluate such investigations.
All exhibit components encourage students to explore the effects of air and
wind on different objects. In the Science Tower they will build, test, and
refine their own flying saucers, windmills, and paper airplanes to discover
what features lead to the highest, fastest, or most stable designs. ‘Explore
some more’ signs guide students to draw connections between their museum
experience and the world beyond, generalizing their observations to explain
what they see around them. Classroom and take-home activities provide
more opportunities to communicate their observations and discuss results.
2. Students know and understand common physical and chemical properties,
forms of matter and energy, and the laws that define their interactions.
The concept of air as matter is difficult for young minds to grasp, as air
itself can't be seen. However, students will explore the effects of air on
other objects, in the form of wind. This is an opportunity to relate motion to
energy. Students will see different vessels propelled by wind and see wind
captured by a wind mill to produce electricity.
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5. Students know and evaluate interrelationships among science, technology,
and human activity and how they can affect the world.
With the Blowing in the Wind timeline, students explore how wind has been
harnessed to improve people’s lives. Throughout the exhibit, signs explain
the ‘real world’ applications of the scientific principles on display.
6. Students understand that science involves a particular way of knowing and
understanding common connections among different scientific disciplines.
Students will explore the design features and conditions needed to
reproduce efficient, stable flight and motion. Students will relate their
model constructions to the flight and motion of full-scale objects like
parachutes, seeds, airplanes and more.
7. Students know how to appropriately select and safely and effectively use
tools (including laboratory materials, equipment and electronic resources) to
conduct scientific investigations.
At Blowing in the Wind, students will have a variety of test objects to use in
their experiments. Students will need to follow safety guidelines to cut and
assemble flying vessels and show care to avoid collisions with their
projectiles.
The interdisciplinary activities included in this guide address the standards
above, and more. The more fully developed activities and lesson plans state
the Boulder Valley School District standards met just below the title. As the
activities are refined, this information will be included for all activities.
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Background Information
This section elaborates on the key concepts introduced in the Objectives
and Standards section. It also cross-references the activities and resources
that reinforce each concept.
Invisible Air
Since we can’t see air, it can be difficult for children to understand that air
exists and that it is made of ‘something’. One way to overcome this challenge
is to experience moving air - wind. We can see wind blowing through leaves
and fluttering flags. We can feel breezes on our face. We can feel strong
winds pull umbrellas out of our hands.
Activities and Resources:
Fan Dance, Beaufort Scale, Wind Writing, Flower Pinwheel, Blow Painting
Reading: Gilberto and the Wind
Two more activities help reinforce the concept that air is made of
something, that it has substance: Balloon Balance and How Heavy Is Air?
The Balloon Shapes activity demonstrates that air expands to fill a container
and takes the shape of that container.
Air is a mixture of different gases: 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 1%
other gases. Air is necessary for life. With the Lung Capacity activity,
students will see the amount of air they exhale. For related information, see
these websites:
http://www.spokanecleanair.com/all_about_air.asp
http://www.lung.ca/lung101-renseignez/teachers-enseignants_e.php
Where Wind Comes From
When air heats up it expands and is less dense, lighter. Warm air rises and
cooler, heavier air sinks to the ground to fill in the void. The cycling of warm
and cool air creates wind.
If we take a simplified look at Earth, temperatures are warmer at the
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equator and cooler at the poles. This creates convection – a cycle of air
rising at the equator and falling at the poles. This is wind. But we all know
the wind doesn’t blow in a simple pattern. Because the earth is spinning, the
layer of air around the earth gets ‘stirred up’ (this is due to the Coriolis
force). These two effects together give rise to the prevailing wind patterns.
What else creates wind? Another way to ask this question is what creates
uneven heating? Think about what happens at the shore of a body of water.
During the daytime, sun heats up the land and the water, but the land heats
up faster. Have you ever walked barefoot on hot sand and run to the water
for relief? The air above the land heats up too and rises. Cool breezes blow
in from the water. Even on land, the sun does not heat everything evenly.
Think about walking barefoot again. Which is hotter: black pavement or
green grass?
There are many more local features that affect how the wind blows around
the world. Some examples include seasonal temperature changes, altitude
and humidity.
Activities and Resources:
Hot Air demonstrates rising currents of warm air. With Beaufort Scale,
students observe and record wind patterns. Additional activities can be
found in The Wind at Work, by Gretchen Woelfle. For a detailed description
of the origin of wind see
http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/~hail/teachers/lessons/wind.htm .
Air Resistance - Friend or Foe
As shown in How Heavy is Air? air exerts pressure on objects. When the
objects are moving or wind is blowing over them, we call the pressure air
resistance or drag. Air resistance can be helpful. Parachutes create a lot of
air resistance so that falling objects slow down and land gently. Air
resistance can also be unhelpful. The more drag on a car, the more gasoline
it burns to keep moving. Aerodynamics is the study of how air moves and
interacts with objects.
Activities: Grocery Bag Parachutes, Streamlines, Slippery Shapes
Bernoulli Principle and Lift
8
In 1738, Swiss physicist Daniel Bernoulli discovered that as the speed of a
fluid increases its pressure decreases. What does that mean? When air is
still it pushes equally in all directions. For example, air pressure pushes down
on a table, but also up on the underside. But when air moves along the
surface of an object the pressure is reduced. A fan blowing across the
surface of the table reduces the downward pressure of air. A light wind has
little effect on a heavy object like a table, but a slip of paper illustrates the
principle well. Hold a strip of paper under your bottom lip
and blow over it with fast stream of air. Your breath
creates a low pressure pocket of air above the paper.
Below the paper the air pressure is higher and it pushes
the paper up.
There are several experiments in the Lesson Plan and
Activities section to demonstrate this: Bernoulli Principle,
Make Your Own Plant Sprayer, and online, Floating in Air:
http://californiasciencecenter.org/FunLab/DoItYourself/FloatingInAir/FloatingInAir.php .
The lift created as a result of the Bernoulli Principle is one of the forces
involved in flight. Things that Fly gets students thinking about different
kinds of flight (birds, insects, machines). Adaptations of Wind Timeline will
interest students who want to research flight and aviation.
Wind Power - Putting air resistance to work!
Wind is a clean and renewable source of energy. Wind-use technology can be
as simple as drying clothes on a clothesline, or as complex as a highefficiency wind turbine.
Vocabulary note: a windmill uses the energy of the wind to drive machinery
like a grinding stone or saw mill. A wind turbine is similar to a windmill but it
drives a generator to produce electricity.
Activities and Resources:
Kites, Wind Winch, Wind Test Zone at WOW! Flying Seeds demonstrates
how plants use wind power. For more information about renewable energy see
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/wind.html
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Lesson plans and activities
Here you will find a wide selection of lessons and activities. These are
intended to illustrate the scope of activities that can be developed. You may
wish to use these materials as provided, edit them, or use them as
components of a larger thematic unit.
Many of the activities can be adapted to suit a range of grade levels. For
example, you can pre-cut or pre-assemble certain parts to help younger
children. For more advanced students, you can provide materials, a challenge
and perhaps some hints and let them design the solution. Or require them to
write up a report explaining their projects.
Some activities, like Grocery Bag Parachute, have students build models they
can bring with them on a WOW! fieldtrip to test in the Science Tower Wind
Tunnel.
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Balloon Balance
Science (1, 2.1)
Objective: To show that air has weight.
Materials: (per student or team)
• 2 balloons
• Scale
Or make a scale:
• 2 Dowels
• 2 cans or boxes equal in height
• Tape
• 2 paper clips partially opened like this:
Steps:
1. Make and calibrate scale:
a. Use cans or boxes to support ends of one dowel.
Tape the ends of the dowel in place.
b. Tape straightened side of paper clips to each end
of the second dowel so hooks hang down.
c. Slide balloon stem onto each paperclip – be careful not to puncture
the balloons.
d. Lay the second dowel across the top of the first dowel at right angles.
e. Adjust the position of the second dowel until it is level, that is, until
the balloons are balanced. Make a pencil mark on the second dowel
where it touches the first dowel.
2. Hang an empty balloon on each side of the scale. Check that they are
balanced. (Already completed if you made your own scale).
3. Blow up one of the balloons. What do you think will happen when you
hang it back on the scale? If you constructed your own scale, make
sure to place the second dowel so that the pencil mark lines up with
the first dowel. Are the balloons still balanced? What is making one
balloon heavier?
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Balloon Shapes
Science (2.1)
Objective: To show that air takes on the shape and size of its container.
Materials:
•
Several different shapes of balloons or balls (round, tubular, wiggly,
donut/flower)
Steps:
1. Ask students to describe the shape of air. Does it have a shape? Can
its shape change?
2. Blow up different shapes of balloons. Ask students to describe or
draw the shape of air inside the balloons. What makes the air change
shape?
3. Pour a small amount of water into a balloon. Ask students if the water
can change its shape. (Yes) Does it fill the balloon like air? (No) Use
another balloon with a small puff of air – not enough to cause the
balloon to stretch – to show that even a small amount of air ‘fills’ the
balloon, but water stays puddled at the bottom.
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Beaufort Scale
Science (1, 4.2, 6) Math (3)
The Beaufort scale is a commonly accepted way to describe strength of the
wind. By observing how wind affects the world around us we can estimate its
speed. Using a standardized scale to measure wind allows us to compare
observations from varied locations at different times.
The Beaufort scale was devised by British Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort
around 1805. His original descriptions noted how the wind changed the
appearance of water and affected boats at sea. The descriptions below are
more useful in a dry state like Colorado.
Beaufort Level
0 – Calm
1 – Light Air
2 – Light Breeze
3 – Gentle
Breeze
4 – Moderate
Breeze
5 – Fresh
Breeze
6 – Strong
Breeze
7 – Near Gale
8 – Gale
9 – Strong Gale
10 – Storm
11 – Violent
Storm
12 – Hurricane
What you see or feel
Calm. Smoke rises vertically.
Wind direction is shown by smoke but not
by wind vane
You can feel the wind on your face.
Leaves rustle. Wind vane moves.
Leaves and smaller twigs in constant
motion. Wind extends a light flag.
Wind picks up dust and loose paper. Small
branches begin to move
Smaller trees sway.
Wind Speed (mph)
Less than 1
1–3
Large branches in motion. Whistling
heard in overhead wires. Using an
umbrella is difficult.
Whole trees in motion. Effort needed to
walk against the wind
Twigs broken from trees. Cars veer on
road. Very difficult to walk.
Light structure damage. Chimneys and
roof tiles damaged.
Trees uprooted. Considerable structural
damage.
Widespread structural damage
25 – 31
Considerable and widespread damage to
structures. destruction
73 and over
4–7
8 – 12
13 – 18
19 – 24
32 – 38
39 – 46
47 – 54
55 – 63
64 – 72
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Download color illustration at:
http://www.metservice.co.nz/default/staticpages/downloads/Winds_poster_webVersion.pdf
Present Beaufort wind scale. As a class, decide what the Beaufort level is
outside the school right now. Revisit this throughout the week/unit as you
notice changes wind levels.
Individually, or as a class, record observations about the wind in the morning,
noon and evening. Continue recording data over the course of a week (or
longer). At the end of the week, make a graph of the data.
Options:
• plot all data on one graph
• plot morning, noon, and evening on separate graphs
Variation: use stacks of interlocking blocks to create 3-D graph.
Interpretation:
What day and time did the strongest winds occur?
What day and time did the lightest winds occur?
What day had the strongest winds sustained over the whole day?
How many times was the wind strong enough to wave a flag?
Were there any days that the wind caused damage?
Extensions:
Record data over a semester or school year.
Are there any trends in the data?
Is there a time of day that is consistently windy? Consistently calm?
What month would you recommend for kite flying?
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Bernoulli Principle
Science (1, 2.3)
I. Lifting a strip of paper
Materials:
• Strip of paper – cut or tear a 3
inch strip from a sheet.
Steps:
1. Hold the strip of paper with short
edge below your bottom lip.
2. Blow across the paper. What happens?
Explanation:
Moving air creates a low pressure region on top of the paper. The still
air below the paper has higher pressure and so pushes the strip of paper up.
This is called lift.
II. Blowing down a paper tent
Materials:
• Sheet of Paper
• Drinking Straw
Steps:
1. Fold paper in half lengthwise.
2. Stand paper up as a tent.
3. Predict what you think will happen when you blow air under the tent.
4. Blow under the tent. It might be easier to aim the air under the tent by
blowing through a drinking straw.
Explanation:
When air moves it creates a region of low pressure under the tent.
The still air above the tent has higher pressure and so pushes the tent down.
Extension for both experiments: have students sketch their experiment.
Include direction of airflow; label high and low pressure areas; use arrows to
show the direction paper moves.
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Blow-Painting
Visual art (2, 3, 5)
Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
Tempera paints
Water
Paint cups
Straws
Large sheets of paper
Steps:
1. Mix paint with water, one color in each cup. The paint should be thin,
but not as runny as water.
2. Drip drops of paint onto your paper with the end of your straw - you
only need a drop or two at a time.
3. Blow through the straw to move paint around the page. See what
different kinds of lines you can make by blowing gentle or hard. Try
blowing from different directions – turn the paper around if you want.
Follow-up:
When your painting is dry, hold the paper up to look at the image you
created. Rotate the paper – which edge seems like the ‘top’ to you? Why? Is
it the same side that was the top when you were painting? Do you see shapes
that look like real objects in your painting or just patches of color? Does
your image need objects to be art? Share your painting with the class. Ask
them to pick the ‘top’. Do they choose the same edge you chose?
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Fan Dance
Visual Art (3), Physical Education (1, 4)
Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Large pieces of cardboard, stiff paper
Scissors
Paints/Markers/Crayons
Streamers/Ribbons/Scarves
Tongue depressors/wooden sticks
Glue
Steps:
1. Cut out fan shapes from cardboard. Encourage different
shapes/designs/sizes: Try some with wooden handles glued between 2
layers of paperboard. Make accordion-fold fans.
2. Decorate fans while talking about wind.
3. Divide class into fan operators and dancers. Fan operators create
different wind patterns while dancers experiment with streamers and
scarves in the wind. Can they work together to make a steady wind?
4. Have wind makers and dancers switch roles.
Follow Up:
Ask students to describe how it felt to create wind. Did it make a
difference if they moved the fans fast or slow? What different winds could
they make with short fluttering motions compared to long, whole-arm
swinging motions? How did the ribbons and scarves move in the different
kinds of wind? Was it easy or hard to control the ribbons?
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Flower Pinwheel
Visual Art (3), Math (4.4)
Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
•
4-5 inch diameter paper circle (about the size of a CD)
Paper fastener (brad)
Bead large enough to string on the brad
Straw with hole punched 1 inch from end
Scissors
Pencils, Crayons, Markers
Steps:
1. Decorate your paper circle.
2. Cut 8 slits from the edge of the disk towards the center. Do not cut all
the way through. (Hint: to make the cuts evenly spaced, make 1 cut, turn
the disk half way around and make the next cut from the opposite side of
the circle. Make 2 more cuts half way between the first 2 cuts. Make 4
more cuts, half way between the first 4 cuts.)
3. Curl one point from each petal around a pencil. Make sure all
the petals curl the same direction.
4. String all the pieces onto the paper fastener in this order:
Flower, bead, straw.
5. Bend the tabs of the paper fastener just enough to hold
everything together, but loose enough for the flower to spin.
This pinwheel works best if you wave it slowly or just hold it out
as you walk forward.
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Flying Seeds
Why do seeds need to fly?
Imagine what would happen if all the seeds from a flower or tree
fell straight down to the ground and started growing right there.
All the new plants would be in the same spot. They would be
crowded together. They would compete for soil, water, and
sunlight - the resources plants need to grow.
By catching a ride on the wind, seeds can scatter across a larger
area. Each seed has a better chance of finding enough resources
to survive.
There are many different kinds of seeds that have a special
shape to float or fly on the wind. Dandelion and milkweed seeds
have fluffy hairs that spread out like a parachute. Maple and
sycamore tree seeds are attached to blades that spin the seeds
as they fall. Other seeds have large papery wings for gliding or
fluttering in the wind.
Wind isn’t the only way seeds move around. Some seeds hide
inside fruit so animals will carry them away. Some seeds have
sticky, prickly shapes to catch on fur or clothes. Some seeds can
float in water. There are even seed pods that snap open with a
pop, throwing the seeds across the ground.
Online Resources:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plfeb99.htm
http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/seed_dispersl/index.htm
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Flying Seeds: Maple Seed
Helicopter
Make a paper model of a maple seed and take it for a test flight.
Materials:
•
•
•
•
Paper printed with pattern, or you can copy it by hand
Scissors
Paper Clips
Crayons or Markers (optional)
Instructions:
• Cut pattern along the solid lines only. The dotted lines are for folds.
• Decorate with crayons or markers if you want to.
•
•
•
•
Fold flap A towards you. Fold flap B away from you.
Fold flaps C and D towards each other – they will overlap.
Fold the tab made from flaps C and D in half and fasten it with a
paper clip.
Hold the helicopter by the paper clip and toss it in air. Try standing on
a chair.
Extra Challenges:
•
•
•
•
20
Try making models in different sizes or out of thicker paper. Does
this change how it flies and spins?
Try folding the blades at different angles or curling them around a
pencil instead of folding them. How does this affect the way it moves?
Which direction does your helicopter spin? Can you make one that
spins in the opposite direction?
Take your maple seed helicopter to the Science Tower Wind Tunnel
for more test flights. Try it out side-by-side with a paper cup spinner.
How are the two models alike? How are they different?
21
22
Instructor notes:
•
•
•
•
When the helicopter is dropped, air resistance pushes up against the
blades.
Since the blades are angled they push some of the air to the side.
Since there are 2 blades, bent away from each other, the helicopter
spins instead of drifting to one side.
If blade A is folded toward you and blade B is folded away you can
make a model that spins the opposite direction by folding blade A
away from you and blade B toward you.
23
Grocery Bag Parachutes
Materials:
•
•
•
Plastic grocery bags
Ballast (weight) - you can use small toy figures,
a metal washer, a heavy bead, or a paper cup
with clay pressed into the bottom.
String
Steps:
Tie your ballast to the handles of the grocery bag. If you are using a toy
figure, start tying a knot in the handle of the grocery bag, but before you
tighten it, slide it onto the arm of the figure. Then tighten the knot and
repeat with the other arm and other handle. Or, use string to tie the weight
to both handles.
Outdoor Launch:
Press all of the air out of the grocery bag and roll it up from the bottom to
the handles.
Find a clear open space. Hold the bag and ballast in your hand with your palm
up and toss it high.
Science Tower Launch:
Hold your ballast over the Science Tower Wind Tunnel while the parachute
fills up with air.
Let go and see how high your parachute flies.
Variation:
Use nylon fabric or tissue paper to make parachute.
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Hot Air
Science (2.1, 4.2)
Objective: To demonstrate that hot air rises
Materials:
•
•
•
Hot plate or bare incandescent light bulb
Aluminum foil
Knitting needle
Special Notes:
•
•
Keep hands, clothes, and paper away from heat
source.
In a warm room, a hot stove may be needed to
create enough airflow. Test your heat source
before class!
Steps:
2.
3.
4.
5.
1. Turn on light bulb or hot plate at beginning of
discussion to allow time for it to warm up. Discussion:
Air is a gas. Many gases, like air, are colorless. We
cannot see colorless gases, yet they are made up of
tiny particles, called molecules. Molecules in a gas are
spread out; they are not ‘stuck together’ like molecules in a solid or liquid.
When a gas warms up, the molecules spread out even more. When the
molecules are more spread out, the gas is lighter and it rises. Even though
we can’t see the hot air rising, we can show that it does by putting
something we can see in its path.
Cut a spiral out of the aluminum foil. You only need 1_ or 2 turns around.
Poke the knitting needle through the center of the spiral and rest it on
the back end of the needle. Twist to make hole large enough to spin easily.
Ask the class to predict what will happen when you hold the spiral above
the heat source. (Rising air causes the spiral to spin)
Ask students if there is a fan or motor pushing the air. Emphasize that
heat is making the air rise.
Adaptation: Start with simple shapes on a mobile above the bulb to illustrate
the air is moving.
25
How heavy is air?
Science (2.1)
Objective: Demonstrate that air has weight.
Materials:
A table
A ruler or paint stirring stick
A sheet of newspaper
Safety goggles
Try this:
Place a ruler on the table so that about one third of it hangs over the edge.
Check to make sure there is no one standing in front of the ruler. While
standing to the side, tap the end of it with your hand. The ruler will flip off
the table.
Now try this:
Set up the ruler again, but this time, cover it with a sheet of newspaper.
Smooth the newspaper out, pressing out all the air between the paper and
the table. Tap the ruler again. Tap harder, but not so hard that you break
the ruler. Can you lift the paper all the way off the table?
What’s going on:
Air is made up of molecules, tiny particles too small to see. Even though
they are tiny, each one has some weight. Together they weigh a lot. Think
about it like salt. One grain of salt is so light you wouldn’t even feel the
weight if you put it in your hand. But a bag full of salt weighs
5 pounds. A whole bunch of light pieces can add up to a heavy
package.
The molecules in air are much smaller than a grain of salt,
but there are many, many more of them. When we add up all
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the molecules in the air around the Earth, we find that there is almost 15
pounds pushing down on every square inch. The surface of the newspaper is
over 400 square inches. The total weight of air on the newspaper is about
6000 pounds.
1
Square
Inch
When you tap the ruler quickly, you are not just lifting the newspaper; you
are trying to lift all the air on top of it too.
Here’s another trick – if you push slowly down on the ruler you will be able to
lift the paper off the table. That’s because air flows around objects. If you
give the air time to move around, it will slide around and under the
newspaper.
27
Kites
This activity comes from Big Wind Kite Factory, Moloka'i, Hawai'i.
http://www.molokai.com/kites/20kidskites.html
20 minutes construction time + flight time
Materials for 20 kites:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
20 sheets of brightly colored 8 1/2" x 11" multipurpose printing paper.
20Lb. Bond is good.
20 8" bamboo skewers.
1 roll of florescent surveyor's flagging plastic tape. Available at any
hardware store. A plastic bag cut in a 1" wide spiral all around will also
make a great tail.
1 roll 1/2" wide masking tape or any type of plastic tape.
1 roll of string. (At least 200', 6 to 10 feet for each child.)
20 pieces of 1"x 3" cardboard on which to wind the string.
Scissors.
Hole punch. (optional)
Steps:
1. Fold a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper in half to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".
2. Fold again along the diagonal line AB in Fig. 2. This diagonal line can be
determined by making a mark at the top 1/2 inch from the fold and a
mark at the bottom 3 in. from the fold and drawing a line between
these marks.
3. Fold back one side forming kite shape in Fig. 3 and place tape firmly
along fold line AB. (No stick is needed here because the fold stiffens
the paper and acts like a spine.)
4. Place stick from point C to D and tape it down firmly.
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5. Cut off 6 to 10 feet of plastic ribbon and tape it to the bottom of the
kite at B.
6. Flip kite over onto its back and fold the front flap back and forth
until it stands straight up. (Otherwise it acts like a rudder and the
kite spins around in circles.)
7. Punch a hole in the flap at E, about 1/3 down from the top point A.
This hole can be reinforced with an additional piece of tape.
8. Tie one end of the string to the hole and wind the other end onto the
cardboard string winder.
9. Take kites outside to fly.
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Lung Capacity
How Much Air Is In Your Lungs?
Materials
•
•
•
Tub of water
Empty 2-Liter bottle
Bendable drinking straws
Lab Partner 1: Fill the 2-Liter bottle with
water. Cover the opening of the bottle with
your hand and put the bottle in the tub of
water. Carefully turn the bottle upside down
while keeping the mouth of the bottle under
water.
Lab Partner 2: Bend a drinking straw and put the short end into the mouth
of the bottle. Take a deep breath and blow into the long end of the straw.
Exhale as long as you can to get all of the air out of your lungs. Your breath
will bubble into the soda bottle and push out the water. While your lab
partner is still holding the bottle upside down, make a mark on the bottle to
show how much air you blew into it.
Lab Partners 1 and 2 trade places and repeat.
Who exhaled more air into the bottle, you or your lab partner?
Extension:
Before the experiment, have students add 250 mL of water at a time to the
bottle and make a mark on the side of the bottle at the level of the water
(or use 1 cup increments for easier math). Conduct the experiment 5 times
and record the volume of air exhaled. Calculate the average of the 5
readings.
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Make a Plant Sprayer
Objective: To move water by applying Bernoulli’s Principle
Materials:
•
Two plastic straws
•
Full cup of water
•
Plant or other target
Steps:
1. Stand one of the straws upright in the water. It should be a
little taller than the glass.
2. Hold the second straw at right angles to the first one, as shown
in the diagram.
3. Blow through the second straw and watch the level of water in
the first straw.
If you blow gently, you will see the water rise a little. If you blow very hard,
the water will rise to the top of the straw and form a spray.
Explanation:
The moving air blowing across the top of the straw has less pushing power
than still air. The air pressing down on the water in the glass is able to push
harder than the moving air and forces water up the straw.
This activity was adapted from:
175 Science Experiments to Amuse and Amaze Your Friends, by Brenda Walpole
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Slippery Shapes
Science
Objective: To demonstrate how air resistance affects motion
Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
Electric Fan
Board and small stack of books to make a ramp
Toy cars (similar size/shape/weight)
Construction paper
Tape
Instructions:
Use a strip of construction paper to make a smooth curved surface and tape
it to the front of a toy car. Use another strip of construction paper to fold
a boxy shape and tape this to the front of another toy car. Set up a ramp
(not too steep). Set the fan at the bottom of the ramp, blowing uphill. Start
both cars together at the top of the ramp and record which one reaches the
bottom first.
Challenge: who can design the fastest profile? Slowest? Can anyone design a
profile that pushes the car back up the ramp?
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Streamlines
Science
Objective: To demonstrate how air moves around objects
Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
Hair dryer with cool setting (you may be able to use a rubber band or
tape to hold down the cool button)
Streamers or ribbons under 1 inch wide
Tape
Metal cans or paperboard tubes of different diameters
Boxes with sides similar in size to the diameters of the cans (tissue
boxes work well)
Steps:
1. Tape one streamer to the top of the hair dryer nozzle. Tape another to
the bottom.
2. Turn on the hair dryer. On a high setting, the top streamer should blow
out parallel to the airflow.
3. Hold a can between the two streamers so
that the curved surface is facing the hair
dryer nozzle (see illustration). The
streamers make the airflow pattern visible:
air bends smoothly around the tube.
4. Now place a similarly sized box in the
airflow. Air does not flow smoothly around the box; it gets bent sharply
up and down. This shape has more air resistance or drag than the can.
5. Draw your own pictures of the streamlines around a curved surface and
around a box.
When air flows smoothly around an object, we say the object is aerodynamic.
Which is more aerodynamic, a boxy shape or a curved shape?
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Things That Fly
This is an outline of activities that could be used together as a unit on flying,
Have students brainstorm a list of things that fly or glide.
As a group, sort items into groups like animals, plants, machines.
Talk about the features of each thing that help it fly. Some examples: birds
have wings and powerful chest muscles to flap them; dandelion seeds have
parachute-like tufts of fuzz; insects have light-weight bodies and fastmoving wings; helicopters have long spinning blades. Which things fly using
their own power and which ones need wind to glide?
Use your lists to make a Venn diagram. Here are some examples:
Make a book or collage.
Draw or cut out pictures of things that fly. Assemble pictures into a collage
or put each picture on its own page and write its name.
Variation: Each student makes up a new ‘thing that flies’. Remind them to
think about the features that help things fly (wings, canopies, blades…) and
use one or more of these in their design. Draw a picture of the invention or
write a paragraph explaining what it looks like and how it flies. Give the
invention a name. Assemble all the inventions into a book.
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Wind Timeline
History (1.1, 1.2, 1.3)
Have students research the use of wind in books and online. Gather dates,
facts and pictures and assemble a timeline. Encourage advanced students to
select a narrower topic and delve into details. Take turns presenting
timelines to the class.
Sample topics:
Harnessing wind (general survey)
Flight: general, military, women in flight, solo flights
Windmill Design
Parachute Design
Kite Design
Hurricanes and Storm Alert System Advances
Extensions:
Write a story or essay describing how the elements in the timeline affected
society. Who was affected? How were people’s everyday lives changed?
Where the changes an improvement? Why or why not?
Visit the Blowing in the Wind Timeline at WOW! Children's Museum.
Online Resources:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/history/timelines/wind.html
http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/nr735/Unit_1/Timeline.htm
http://www.history-of-kites.info/Kite_History_Timeline.html
http://www.ueet.nasa.gov/StudentSite/historyofflight.html
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Wind Winch
Objectives:
•
•
To demonstrate how wind is used to do work
To explore the limitations of a design/material
Materials:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2 clothespins (spring-loaded style)
drinking straw
wooden skewer
tape
thread
button or bead
paper
scissors
electric fan
optional: hair dryer, modeling clay,
stopwatch
Steps:
1. Make the windmill rotor: Cut out a circle of paper about 3 inches in
diameter. Cut 8 equally spaced slits from the edge toward the center, but
only cut half way to the center. Curl the left corner of each section
around a pencil to shape the blades of the windmill. Poke a hole through
the center of the paper and insert the straw. Secure with tape.
2. Assemble the housing: Clip a clothespin around one end of the skewer so
the clothespin is perpendicular to the skewer (there is a groove in most
clothespins about the right size for the skewer). Slide the straw with the
windmill blades onto the skewer. Clip the second clothespin to the other
end of the skewer. Make sure the clothespins are parallel to each other.
You should be able to stand them up on end supporting the skewer like a
bridge.
3. Add the load: Tie the button or bead onto the end of a piece of thread
about 1 foot long. Tape the other end of the string to the straw. Position
the structure near the edge of the table so the button hangs over the
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edge (or the structure can span the gap between two tables). You can use
modeling clay or tape to secure the clothespins to the table.
4. Lift the load: Turn the fan on and aim it at the windmill. As the windmill
spins, the thread wraps around the straw and raises the button.
Extra challenges:
Try different sources of wind like blowing with your mouth or a hair dryer.
Does it matter if the wind is steady? Which source of wind works best?
Why? Does your winch stand up to strong winds or does it get damaged?
Teachers: The button may fall back to the ground in between breaths. A
light, steady wind will probably work best – a strong/fast wind can wind the
winch so fast that the string gets tangled.
~~~
Experiment with different paper and curvature of the blades to design a
faster windmill. What else can you change to make the winch raise the
button faster? Now try adding beads or buttons to the load. How many
buttons can your winch lift? Can you redesign it to lift more?
Teachers: Adjusting the angle of the wind may affect speed. You may be
able to speed up the winch by adding material to make the shaft (straw)
thicker.
~~~
In science and engineering it is important to understand why things don’t
work as well as why they do. Describe the obstacles and problems you
encountered when designing your winch. What are the limitations of the
materials you are using? Are they too big, small, heavy, or weak? If you could
use other materials, what would you recommend and why?
Teachers: Encourage students to recognize what they can learn from a
‘failed’ experiment. You may want to note that if they did not ‘fail’ they
should continue to challenge themselves until they do!
37
Wind Writing
Language Arts (2, 3, 4)
Wind Words: Spend at least 5 minutes writing down all the words,
thoughts and feelings that come to mind when you think about wind. The
words don’t have to mean anything to anyone but you and you can jump
around from one idea to the next.
Wind Poem: Review your wind words and pick your favorite words or ideas.
Use these to write a poem about wind. How do you want your readers to feel
about wind?
Wind Travel Log: Read “Where does the wind blow?” by Cindy Rink.
Imagine you are the wind. Write about your travels. Where do you go? What
do you do? Who do you meet? Variation: Imagine you are a seed, snowflake
or speck of dust traveling on the wind.
Wind Wish: Write a letter to the wind asking it for a favor. How can the
wind grant your wish and why should it?
Wind News: Write a story for your local news that features wind. You get
to decide if your story is headline news, entertainment, weather or sports.
Wind Field Guide: Brainstorm all your encounters with the wind. How are
they similar and different from each other? Classify the different kinds of
wind you know. Give them names and describe their individual
characteristics.
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Preparing to visit WOW! Children's Museum
WOW! offers discounted rates to groups of 10 or more children with
advanced booking. Basic and Head Start Group visits are 2-hour self-guided
explorations of the Museum and may include a lunchroom upon request (space
permitting). Science Group visits are also 2 hours long, and include activities
guided by Museum Science Staff. During a Science Group visit, students may
be divided into smaller groups to participate in mini classes and crafts.
Science Group visits can be designed around a variety of themes, including
wind, and can be customized to suit your class needs. Due to the additional
staffing and purchasing necessary, Science Group visits require a 10% nonrefundable deposit1 to reserve your spot.
WOW! Group Rates per Child
Number of Children
Basic Group
Head Start Group
Science Group
10-30
$5.50
$4.00
$6.00
Over 302
$5.00
$3.00
$6.00
During the school year, WOW! Children's Museum is open Tuesday and
Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Museum does not book
groups on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, the 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. timeslot is
reserved for children under age 5.
For information or to book a Basic or Head Start Group visit, call the
Museum at 303 604-2424. For additional information about Science Group
visits, please contact Science Educator Renee Guerrero
(renee_guerrero@msn.com) or Science Coordinator Nikki Delaney
(nikkidelaney99@yahoo.com).
Exhibit Guides for Blowing in the Wind are available at WOW!
In case of cancellation, deposit may be applied toward future Museum services.
Basic and Head Start Groups of 51 or more students and Science Groups of 31 or more
students can only be accommodated when the museum is closed to the public, pending staff
availability. Please call for more information.
1
2
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Recommended Resources
Books
Ets, M. H. (1978). Gilberto And The Wind. Puffin Books: Picture Puffin
Farndon, J. (2002). Science Experiments: Flight. Benchmark Books.
Frost, H. (2004). Wind. Capstone Press: Pebble Books.
Murphy, B. (1991). Experiment With Air. Lerner Publications Company.
Pallis, J. M. (1999). The Big Book of Air and Space Flight Activities. McGrawHill.
Richards, J. (1999). Science Factory: Air and Flight. Cooper Beech Books.
Rink, C. (2002). Where Does The Wind Blow? Dawn Publications
Walpole, B. (1988). 175 Science Experiments to Amuse and Amaze Your
Friends. Random House.
Woelfle, G. (1997). The Wind at Work: An Activity Guide to Windmills.
Chicago Review Press.
Online Resources
Lesson Plan and Activity Sites
Aeronautics - Society of Women Engineers
http://www.swe.org/iac/lp/index.html
Bubbles in the Wind
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/ScienceBubblesInTheWind12.htm
Kites
http://www.drachen.org/about_kites_basics.html
http://www.molokai.com/kites/20kidskites.html
Mini Bernoulli blower (California Science Center)
http://californiasciencecenter.org/FunLab/DoItYourself/FloatingInAir/FloatingInAir.php
40
The Wind Blows
http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Meteorology/MET0033.html
Wingin’ It (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry)
http://www.omsi.edu/visit/physics/engineerit/wingin.pdf
Where wind comes from, includes multicultural names for wind.
http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/~hail/teachers/lessons/wind.htm
Informational Sites
Energy Kid’s Page: Wind Energy
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/wind.html
Beaufort scale (download poster)
http://www.metservice.co.nz/default/staticpages/downloads/Winds_poster
_webVersion.pdf
Seeds & Fruits Dispersed by Wind
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plfeb99.htm
The Physics behind Flight
http://130.64.87.22/ldaps/htdocs/ftp/pub/Engineer.pdf
Free Graphics for Educators and Students
http://www.edupic.net/
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Evaluation
The Blowing in the Wind Teacher’s Guide is a work in progress. Please help us
make it a valuable resource by sending your feedback to WOW! Science
Coordinator, Nikki Delaney, at nikkidelaney99@yahoo.com Thank you!
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = not useful, 5 = very useful), how useful is this guide?
What was most useful?
What was least useful?
Here is a list of improvements we are considering making to this guide. How
would you rank their priorities? (1 being the most important for improving
the usefulness of this guide)
__ Creating a uniform style/layout for all activities
__ Using a uniform tone/audience for all activities
If this is important, would you like the audience to be students or
teachers?
__ Specifying appropriate ages for all activities
__ Including estimates of the time needed for each activity
__ Elaborating on all the standards met by each activity
__ Adding a grid showing all standards met by each activity
__ Creating questions/worksheets/problems for evaluating comprehension
__ Making this guide available online as a PDF or specify other format:
__ Other:
__ Other:
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