Wind Turbines and Proportions Duration: 70 min (with additional extension activities) Standards: 6.RPA.1 6.RPA.3 Overview: After learning about wind turbines and how they put power on the grid, students will create a windmill and use ratio reasoning to figure out how many homes a wind turbine can power* 6th Grade Math Essential Question 1: How do wind turbines get power into our homes? Essential Question 2: How many homes can a wind turbine power? Materials Windmill Template Pencil or hole punch Rubber bands Scissors Straw Small paper cut PowerPoint presentation Problem set ws Internet Projector Paper String *Requires no knowledge of electrical engineering, PowerPoint and videos can do all the explaining!

PROCEDURE: TEACHER TIPS: Students begin by learning about wind turbines via videos in PowerPoint and create their own ‘windmill.’ Students brainstorm what factors would affect power production of a windmill and power use in a home while building graph-reading literacy. Students practice solving ratio problems given how many home one wind turbine can power and solving for how many home x windmills could power. TEACHER TIPS: Start a STEM/STEAM career board and focus on a new career each month to help students learn about different career options using applied mathematics and help excite them about learning math! Students do not need to master the scientific concepts-just realize that solving ratios problems has many real-life applications! Collaborate with science teachers  PowerPoint has many animations, allowing you to move through at your own pace, scaffolding where necessary. It is also editable, add or take away anything as necessary for your classroom.