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Find wind energy curricula and teaching materials for both younger and older students. Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.
Younger Students
California Energy Commission
Developed a set of educational materials called "Energy Quest."
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"Wind with Miller" provides information in short bits, uses interactive tools (calculators, sliding scales, drop-down lists), and presents information with colorful, moving diagrams. The lessons are short and fun!
DOE Energy Information Agency
A Web site that provides information and classroom activities on all energy technologies, including wind energy, for kids called Energy Kids. Valuable links are included. The Energy Information Agency's handbook, Energy Education Resources, is a wealth of useful references for teachers. You can order a current edition from the Web site. -
Provides curriculum and tutorials for kids.
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By the Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
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Developed a children's book on wind power to encourage children's interest in construction and in science. The Web site also has coloring pages, a vocabulary quiz, crossword puzzles, word searches, and flash cards.
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The NEED Project provides K-12 wind curriculum. Lessons are correlated to state standards and include hands-on curriculum, interdisciplinary
activities, and data-based lessons.
NOW with Bill Moyers
Presents brief instructions for building a wind machine as a science project (PDF 19 KB). -
From the University of Northern Iowa.
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Produced by the Idaho National Laboratory, includes lesson plans for different levels of students.
Older Students
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4H developed The Power of the Wind, which consists of one Youth Guide and one Facilitator's Guide. The activities involve young people in the engineering design process as they learn about the wind and its uses.
American Wind Energy Association
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has an on-line tutorial on many key wind topics that it calls the AWEA Wind Web Tutorial. AWEA also publishes fact sheets and the "Wind Energy Teacher's Guide" (PDF 595 KB). -
The guided tour is written for people who want to know a lot about wind energy, short of becoming wind engineers. The twelve chapters answer most of the questions which students ask the Danish Wind Energy Association — without requiring you already have a degree in advanced math and physics. Starting from the basics about wind, the guided tour takes you to the challenging frontiers of wind energy technology as it relates to commercial, large, grid-connected wind turbines.
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An on-line handbook produced by Educators for the Environment. Look for the sections on wind energy.
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Produced a video about the Maple Ridge Wind Farm in New York. The video introduces students to three engineers who use everything from algebra to physics and problem solving to statistics to provide clean, renewable energy. It is accompanied by a classroom activity.
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Has information for teachers, students, and consumers.
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Provides lessons and activities for middle-level students. Find background material, lessons and experiments, PowerPoint lectures, and more. The KidWind organization develops these materials on an ongoing basis, tying the curricula to standard testing protocols. KidWind also provides highly rated teacher training.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Published "Research Projects in Renewable Energy for High School Students" (PDF 1.1 MB). This publication describes projects such as:
- What techniques can be used to measure and compare wind direction and speed?
- How does a wind propeller affect how much electricity it produces?
- What is the most efficient spacing of wind turbines for "farming" wind in a given unit of space?
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The NEED Project provides K-12 wind curriculum. Lessons are correlated to state standards and include hands-on curriculum, interdisciplinary
activities, and data-based lessons.
Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative
Provides a wind energy tutorial and materials for educators and students. -
Offers lesson plans for wind curricula.
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A division of Xibokk Research, Inc., provides science project windmill kits.
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This site provides background information on wind, hands-on learning activities, teacher materials, resources, and links.
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In the middle school lesson plans, see "Testing a Pinwheel Turbine" and "Roping the Texas Breezes." In the high school lesson plans, see "Testing a Windmill Generator" and "Wind Power Basics."
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Produced by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), includes lesson plans for different levels of students.
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