Who Moved Those Rain Clouds to Town? Making Windbirds to Learn about the Power of Wind

In this practical article, a kindergarten teacher shares a lesson designed to teach students about the power of wind. To address the Next Generation Science Standards engineering standards, students discussed the negative and positive aspects of wind and made daily weather observations (K-ESS2-1). Students constructed birdshaped windsocks, called windbirds, to explore how the shape of the object allowed it to move in the wind (K-2ETS1-2). To address the National Core Arts Standards, creative arts were integrated as students designed cylindrical windbirds of colorful materials. The windbirds were used to observe the effects of wind in the students’ outdoor environment at school. Students read both fiction and nonfiction books to increase their understanding of wind related concepts, learning how windmills can harness the power of the wind (K-ESS2-1). The article provides a review of related literature and a detailed plan of the lesson taught by the teacher.