Download Making a Pinwheel - WVU 4-H

Project Series: Exploring the Environment
Use:
Workshops, Club Meetings, Skillathons, Day Camp, Camp Classes, Assemblies,
After-school Sessions, Field Day, 4-H Project Awareness Event, 4-H Enrollment Night
Goal: Build awareness of and interest in the Exploring the Environment curriculum.
Provide youths and adults opportunities to experience hands-on Exploring the Environment
curriculum activities.
Create an environment where youths and adults interact through hands-on activities.
Time:
30 to 45 minutes
Materials: Pencil, construction paper, straight pin, spacer bead, scissors, ruler, paste
Activity:
Making a pinwheel to capture wind energy
Wind is simple air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun.
Since the earth’s surface is made of very different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun’s heat at
different rates.
During the day, the air above the land heats up more quickly than the air over water. The warm air
over the land expands and rises, and the heavier, cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating winds.
At night, the winds are reversed because the air cools more rapidly over land than over water.
Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity. Wind is called a renewable energy source
because the wind will blow as long as the sun shines. You cannot see the wind, but you know when it
is around. Wind makes things move.
Sometimes the wind is gentle, but sometimes it is very strong and destructive. Winds are named by
the direction from which they blow. If a wind blows from the west to the east, it is called a west wind. A
north wind blows from the north. It’s hard to describe wind, but you can see its effects. If you have
ever had your hair blow in your face, had a paper you were holding blow away or watched a leaf float
by, you’ve seen what the wind can do.
Procedure:
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Cut one 8-inch square and one 4-inch circle out of construction paper.
Draw dots in the centers of the square and circle.
Draw lines on the square from corner to corner. (Diagram 1)
Paste the circle onto the middle of the square. (Diagram 1)
Turn the square over and draw four dots on the corners. (Diagram 1)
Cut along the lines from the corners to the circle. (Diagram 2)
Bend over the corners so all dots meet in the center of the circle and paste. (Diagram 3)
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Put the pin through the center of the pinwheel, bead, and into the side of the pencil
eraser.
Spin the pinwheel with your hands until it spins easily on the pin.
Hold the pinwheel 12-inches in front of a fan on low speed and observe the speed of the
pinwheel.
Hold the pinwheel 24-inches away and observe.
Turn the fan on high speed. Hold the pinwheel 24-inches away and observe.
Activity Discussion Questions:
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How does the distance from the fan affect the spin speed of the pinwheel?
How does the speed of the fan affect the spin speed of the pinwheel?
How does weather help show that everything is connected to everything else?
Name five things that the wind can move.
Additional Background Information:
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The four elements, or things, needed for life are sunlight, air, water, and soil. The combination
of these elements affects all plants, animals, and other living things on earth. For example, the
amount of sunlight can help determine the kinds of organisms found in an area because
almost all energy comes from the sun. Energy from the sun is captured in the leaves of green
plants through the process of photosynthesis to produce food. All animals depend on this
process (and the food it produces) for life. The availability of water also determines what
creatures, including humans, can live in an area because life cannot survive more than a few
days without water. Air and soil are equally important to sustaining any life on earth.
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Since ancient times, people have harnessed the winds energy. More than 5,000 years ago,
the ancient Egyptians used wind to sail ships on the Nile River. Later, people built windmills to
grind wheat and other grains. The earliest known windmills were in Persia (Iran). These early
windmills looked like large paddle wheels. Centuries later, the people of Holland improved the
basic design of the windmill. They gave it propeller-type blades, still made with sails. Holland is
famous for its windmills.
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Wind power plants, or wind farms as they are sometimes called, are clusters of wind machines
used to produce electricity.
Programs and activities offered by the West Virginia University Extension Service are available to all persons without regard to race, color, sex, disability,
religion, age, veteran status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, national origin, and marital or family status.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Director, Cooperative Extension Service, West Virginia University.
2008