In Mr. Mark Sunkel’s AP Environmental Science class on December 20, students made model windmills that had to be able to lift a paperclip 100 centimeters off the ground. Currently the students are studying a unit about different types of energy. They are learning about solar, hydroelectric, nuclear, and wind energies.

Students in his class had to design a device that uses wind energy to lift as much mass as possible. To make this a controlled experiment, they used a hairdryer. The winning windmill could lift 200 grams. There was also a speed test. The fastest windmill to lift a paperclip 100 centimeters off the ground was in .53 seconds.

“I really enjoyed participating in this windmill project. It was a creative way to help us understand the science of wind energy and the activity in general was really fun,” said Karly Fink.