Science · Grade 2

Active learning ideas

Understanding Wind

Active learning helps second graders grasp wind because it moves air they can see, feel, and measure. When students build tools and test ideas, they connect abstract pressure changes to real movements of objects around them.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• 2-ESS2-1

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Plan-Do-Review
• 45 min · Small Groups

Design Challenge: Simple Wind Vane

Provide straws, cardstock arrows, pins, and pencils. Students assemble a wind vane, mount it outdoors, and mark directions on a base plate. Over two days, they record wind direction hourly and discuss patterns. End with sharing sketches in a class chart.

Explain what makes the wind blow.

Facilitation Tip

For Pairs Test: Fan vs Natural Wind, provide one fan per pair so both students can see the same breeze and discuss differences between artificial and natural wind.

What to look for

Provide students with a diagram of a simple house and tree. Ask them to draw arrows showing wind direction and add labels indicating 'light wind' and 'strong wind' effects on the house and tree.

• Remember
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 40 min · Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Wind Speed Tools

Set up stations with pinwheels, ribbon streamers, and cup anemometers. Groups test each tool using a fan at low, medium, and high speeds, timing rotations or drops. Record qualitative levels like gentle or strong. Rotate every 10 minutes.

Design a simple wind vane to show wind direction.

What to look for

After students have built and tested their wind vanes, ask: 'What did your wind vane tell you about the wind today? If you built a different tool to measure wind speed, what did it show? How are these tools similar or different?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Plan-Do-Review
• 30 min · Whole Class

Prediction Walk: Wind Effects

Take students outside to observe trees, flags, and structures. Predict and test how leaves, swings, or paper sway in wind using a portable fan. Sketch before-and-after changes and vote on strongest effects as a group.

Predict how strong winds might affect trees and buildings.

What to look for

Observe students as they construct their wind vanes. Ask guiding questions such as: 'What part of your vane shows the wind direction? How do you know which way the wind is blowing?'

• Remember
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making
• Self-Awareness

Activity 04

• Plan-Do-Review
• 25 min · Pairs

Pairs Test: Fan vs Natural Wind

Pairs build matching streamers, then compare movement in natural wind versus a classroom fan. Note differences in speed and direction on a T-chart. Present findings to class with photos or drawings.

Explain what makes the wind blow.

What to look for

Provide students with a diagram of a simple house and tree. Ask them to draw arrows showing wind direction and add labels indicating 'light wind' and 'strong wind' effects on the house and tree.

• Remember
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with outdoor observations to ground the topic in lived experience. Avoid long explanations before hands-on work, as students learn more by testing ideas than by listening passively. Use guiding questions like 'What makes the pinwheel turn faster?' to steer thinking toward cause and effect.

Students will explain how uneven heating creates wind, use tools to measure direction and speed, and share evidence about changes over time. They will also correct common misconceptions by comparing their observations with their predictions.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Pairs Test: Fan vs Natural Wind, watch for students who think the fan makes wind by waving its blades like a tree branch.

  Direct students to hold a pinwheel or paper strip in front of the fan’s grille and observe that the air moves even when the blades are not visible, proving the fan pushes air rather than the air moving the blades.

• During Design Challenge: Simple Wind Vane, watch for students who assume the vane points to where the wind starts.

  Have students mark the four cardinal directions on the base before placing the vane outside, then observe which way the arrow points and discuss how the vane shows the direction the wind is coming from, not where it goes.

• During Station Rotation: Wind Speed Tools, watch for students who use sound or how much a tree sways to judge wind speed.

  Ask students to compare the spinning cups on the anemometer or the streamer’s angle to a simple scale they create with light, medium, and strong wind labels, reinforcing that visual movement indicates speed.

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Methods used in this brief

• Plan-Do-Review
• Stations Rotation