Exploring Wind

As soon as March arrived, it became windy here.  What a perfect time to go outside and experience it and add a little science learning to it. You can try exploring wind, too!

I made ribbon sticks for us to play with in the wind.  I attached some curling ribbon (the kind for presents and parties) to a chopstick – I tied the ribbon to the chopstick and added some tape for security.

Outside, we waited for the wind to blow.

There goes the ribbon flying through the air.

Now the ribbon falls to the ground.

This was fun for quite a while, but then Aiden realized he had a stick in his hand and there was dirt on the ground.  Of course, he had to dig.

And apparently eat some of the dirt?

I also made a quick parachute for a Lego guy using a coffee filter and three pieces of string.  We taped the strings to the coffee filter and tied them to the Lego guy.  This design did not work so well.  The strings spun around, and the Lego guy just came crashing to the ground.

The parachute got stuck in the tree next to a random plastic bag.  I had Patrick retrieve both the parachute and the plastic bag.  The plastic bag was one of the super small ones you get at the store.  It looked like a promising parachute, so I fed the Lego guy through the handles bringing the string with him.  I didn’t take off the coffee filter parachute – I used it as an anchor.  This design proved much more successful.  It floated nicely down to the ground.  Aiden was able to hold on to it and let the wind catch the bag.

Now for the science learning.

Questions to ask:

• Which way is the wind blowing?  (Aiden’s answer: It blows down.  Of course the real answer depends on the situation.  Have them observe their ribbon sticks to find out.)
• What is the wind? (moving air)
• What does the wind move? (here’s where they get to practice observation skills – trees, the ribbon, the parachute, your hair, etc.)
• What happens to your ribbon when the wind stops? (It falls down.)

 

I will leave you with what Aiden said to a sudden strong gust of wind… “Go away wind.”  But then, we couldn’t have had so much fun exploring the wind!

Happy blustery days!  Spring is near!

 

 

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