Kites & Wind

Learning Goal: Wind is moving air. Both lightning and electricity produce light, heat and sound (called thunder).

• Reading= The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins, Where Do Balloons Go? by Jamie Lee Curtis, How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by Rosalyn Schanzer and Curious George Flies a Kite by Margret & H.A. Rey (or The Big Red Kite by Stan & Jan Berenstain). Letter of the day: K is for kite and key.
  
• Art= Paint with kite string. Dip kite string pieces (2 ft. long) in different colors of paint. Arrange the first string on one side of a folded piece of paper to make a design. Fold paper in half and press down on the string. Pull out the string, moving it around the edges of the paper as you pull. Open the folded paper to reveal your string art image. What symmetry! Repeat with as many colors as you like.
  
• Science= Experiment with air, wind or electricity. 1) Capture air in a plastic bag, balloon or parachute. See what air can do by covering a glass half-full of water with a paper plate. Tip the cup upside down to show the water won’t spill. Air pushing against the paper plate holds it in place. 2) Use a paper fan or pinwheel to show moving air creates wind. Get a ping-pong ball to fly by balancing it above a blow dryer’s vertical stream of air. Make paper airplanes then measure how far they can fly. 3) Discuss Ben Franklin’s kite and key experiment. Identify things in your home that require electricity. Point out that both lightning and electricity produce light, heat and sound. Locate the outdoor electrical wires near your home and discuss electrical safety.
• Play= Fly a kite at the park, visit an airport to watch planes in flight, or experience a day without electricity. Cook dinner in a dutch oven then play games and read books by candlelight.

Fun fact: Friction creates electricity by removing electrons from one object and depositing them on another. The transfer of charged electrons creates an electrical current. Similarly, wind creates friction between the clouds, air and earth resulting in lightning. Ben Franklin's kite and key experiment proved that lightning is a form of electricity.