Mapping Wind in the Classroom
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Provided by: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education|Published on: August 2, 2023
Lesson PlansScientist Reviewed
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Synopsis
- This fun and hands-on group activity is useful for teaching students about air currents, air movements, and energy efficiency.
- This group experiment and activity includes creating an air current map of the classroom and extensions for learning how to create a draft doorstop and a window insulation model to help lower household electricity bills.
Subjects: Science
Authors: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point K-12 Energy Education Program
Region: North America, USA - Midwest, United States, Global, Wisconsin
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This lesson plan is filled with classroom discussions and interactivity.
- The materials for this lesson should be easy to find or substitute with other items.
- The extension projects connect this topic to energy use and energy waste in buildings.
Prerequisites
- Students can write their observations in a notebook or location of your choice for the "Energy Learning Log" mentioned.
- You can use small strips of paper on the pencil instead of plastic for the experiment and feathers are not required.
- Bubble mix can be made with water and soap and pipe cleaners can be used to make the bubble makers by bending them into loops with a handle.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Have students measure the wind from someone speaking, walking by, or blowing air in one direction to see how the results in the classroom differ. Can students create a new wind pattern?
- Consider doing this activity outside as well, weather permitting.
- This activity could augment a classroom discussion on the connection between wind and certain weather events.
- This activity could enhance a classroom discussion on how heating and air conditioning works and why temperature differences cause wind.
- This activity could accompany a classroom discussion on wind turbines and how they generate electricity.
- This could supplement a classroom discussion about other systems on Earth that impact human activity.
- KEEP's Wind Kit can help students learn more about wind through different activities.
This resource from Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP) is a classroom activity that tasks students with mapping wind currents and drafts in their classroom. Students are split into groups, and using feathers, bubbles, or sheets of plastic draped over a pencil, they observe how air moves in their classroom and then map their findings. This resource features clear instructions that help teachers and students alike to see classroom winds that are intentional, such as from air conditioning, or unintended, such as drafts around windows and doors. Special care is taken in describing the classroom as a system. Extension items touch on how minimizing drafts can improve energy efficiency in the system of a home or classroom. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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