The Power of Wind: A Lesson in Wind Energy

About 20 miles from our home is a wind farm. It’s a hard working wind farm, which makes sense, because, wind is just a part of life in my hometown. We’re much more likely to experience a brisk wind than a light breeze. Because of that, wind farms are quite common.

I never fully understood wind energy before I saw it with my own eyes and felt it on my own skin. It’s hard to imagine how a simple breeze can power a whole house, but with a few simple experiments, you can teach your kids all about this form of alternative energy.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Xcel Energy. The opinions and text are all mine.

Discovering Wind Energy

It’s so simple to experiment with wind power! Do you have a simple pinwheel toy? Hold it up the the wind and watch it go. If you don’t have any wind, hold it up in front of a fan. This very simple toy can show your child just how a wind turbine works. The toy spins around just like the large blades of a turbine.

Now that you’ve seen how the turbine spins, it’s time to discover the power of wind. Craft a simple paper airplane. Throw it in the same direction the wind is blowing. Can you see how far it goes? Now, throw it in the opposite direction. What happens to the airplane? Can you see the wind at work?

Do you want to see the power of wind on a larger scale? If you live near a wind farm, drive by and watch the turbines work for awhile. If you don’t live near a wind farm or you want to see even more, you can take a virtual tour of a wind farm at this link.

Xcel Energy is doing amazing things with wind energy. Check out this infographic to see the amazing things they’re doing in Minnesota alone. Amazing. Wind is clean, green, and renewable. And, if you live in Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, or New Mexico, you can enroll in WindSource through Xcel Energy.

WindSource is a voluntary green power program which gives customers the choice to support renewable energy. It gives you, the customer, the chance to choose how you want to use energy. You can put that wind power to good use.

You can find out more information and sign up through this link: Xcel Energy – WindSource. Isn’t it amazing that you can use wind power in your home and in turn support a greener and cleaner source of power.

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