Capture the Wind

Students will capture a bag of wind and discover that what they have is a bag of air.

• PRINT
• EMAIL

Materials

• clear plastic bags
  
• a breezy day

Prior to this investigation, ask children:
What do you know about the wind?
Have them record ideas on journal pages.

Teaching the Lesson

1. Make a wind word web. Have children share ideas and questions from their journal pages.

2. Give each child a clear plastic bag. Go outside to capture wind: Wave an open bag in the air until it is inflated. Twist the opening to capture the air inside of the bag.

3. Have everyone bring their wind bags back inside, holding the tops securely closed. Take time to observe the bags of wind. Record additional ideas on the wind web.

4. Ask: Do you think you have wind in your bag or do you think you have air? This question will be confusing but it will initiate an interesting conversation.

5. Explain that once they caught the air and contained it in the bag, it ceased to be wind. In order for air to be wind it must be on the move.

6. Close the lesson with a bang! While still pinching the opening of the bags, allow children to bang the bottoms of their bags and send the wind on its way again.

What makes the wind blow?
Try this to demonstrate the answer.
You will need:

• an empty soda bottle
  
• a balloon
  
• a thermos full of hot water

Place the balloon over the mouth of the bottle. Pour a few inches of hot water into a cup. Set the soda bottle in the hot water. After a few moments, the balloon will stand straight up as the air inside the bottle warms and expands into the balloon. Explain that as the sun warms air around the earth, the air rises. Colder air then moves in to fill the vacant spot. What is moving air called? Wind!

If this activity stirs up more questions than it answers, share these books, which explain the science behind wind.

Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros (Crowell, 1989). This book explores the cause and effect of wind.

I Wonder Why the Wind Blows and Other Questions About Our Planet by Anita Ganeri (Kingfisher, 1994). This book answers common questions children have about weather.

Learning Center Link
Search for pictures in magazines that show increasing wind speeds. For example, you may have a picture of a family picnic in a light breeze, a picture of a girl flying a kite, a picture of the ocean with waves pounding the shore, and a picture of a tornado or hurricane. Have children place the pictures in order of wind strength, from a light breeze to tornado winds.

This page may be photocopied for classroom use.

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