The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind ~ William Kamkwamba

From Amazon:
Discarded motor parts, PVC pipe, and an old bicycle wheel may be junk to most people, but in the inspired hands of William Kamkwamba, they are instruments of opportunity. Growing up amid famine and poverty in rural Malawi, wind was one of the few abundant resources available, and the inventive fourteen-year-old saw its energy as a way to power his dreams. "With a windmill, we'd finally release ourselves from the troubles of darkness and hunger," he realized. "A windmill meant more than just power, it was freedom." Despite the biting jeers of village skeptics, young William devoted himself to borrowed textbooks and salvage yards in pursuit of a device that could produce an "electric wind." The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is an inspiring story of an indomitable will that refused to bend to doubt or circumstance. When the world seemed to be against him, William Kamkwamba set out to change it.
~Dave Callanan

Windmill Virtual Lab

Discovery Educaton has an excellent virtual lab where kids can explore and determine the best design and recommend a location for a windmill. The lab allows kids to control the number, shape, size and pitch of the blades as well as windspeed.

Off the Grid

Off the Grid simulation

From Teacher's Domain:
Imagine that in order to play computer games, listen to music, or talk on the phone, you first had to find a way to generate the electricity to power your electronic devices. Most people in the United States access electricity simply by plugging into a wall outlet or flipping a switch. Their homes are connected to power plants through the electrical grid, an extensive network of cables and wires that carry electrical current. However, whether by choice or by circumstance, some people are detached from this grid. This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain presents three such scenarios and challenges users to design systems that will generate electricity by harnessing the wind.

Make a Pinwheel Turbine

Home Science Tools has instructions for making an operational pinwheel wind turbine.
You can find more information and activities on their site here.

Brainpop Wind Energy

My kids love the Brainpop videos. They are informative, enertaining and engaging.
This one on wind energy is free.

Check out the extension activities, FAQs, and quizzes at the bottom of the page.

How a Wind Turbine Works

Wind with Miller

Wind with Miller is a comprehensive site for kids with lots of interactive options and great information. And you might learn a little of the Danish language as well.

National Geographic on Wind Turbines

KidWind Projects

A great resource for extending learning about windmills.

The site includes project outlines, full curriculum, math and science explorations and worksheets, as well as a link to a simulation exercise in which the taskforce is charged with deciding about building a windfarm and where it might be best built.

Wind, Wind Turbines and Windmills - Library Resources

Some of the resources we used for our research.

Wind energy by Rob Bowden,
The pros and cons of wind power by Richard Spilsbury,
Generating wind power by Niki Walker,
Wind and water energy by Sherry Neuwirth Payne,
Feel the Wind Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2 by Arthur Dorros
Green power : eco-energy without pollution by David Jefferis
Wind energy by Graham Rickard,
Harness the wind: the story of windmills by Joseph Brown,
The wind at work: an activity guide to windmills by Gretchen Woelfle,
Projects with air by John Williams,

Discovery project earth. Infinite winds (DVD)
Discovery project earth. Engineering the future (DVD)
Bill Nye the Science Guy: Wind (DVD)

American Wind Energy Association

Multi grade curriculum materials from the American Wind Energy Association, including a teacher's guide.
We've used the grade 2 - 3 materials which include a small skit, some information about historial windmills, worksheets on wind energy, graphic organizers, stories and hands on activities.