Year 1 were given a design criteria to create a windmill fit for a mouse to live in from the song ‘A windmill in Old Amsterdam’. The windmill had to comply to a strict set of criteria! It was essential that it stood up on its own, it needed to be decorated, it was essential that it had all three parts (turbine, axle and structure) and it needed to blow in the wind!
After researching different windmills and understanding how the sails of the windmill move…it was time to start designing the structure. Doors and windows were added, flowers for decoration, a ‘no cat’ sign to keep the mouse safe, cheese to appeal to the mouse…as well as the mouse itself.
Creating the sails required patience but it wasn’t long before the turbines were created using a pipe cleaner as an axle and some washers. The pipe cleaner was then threaded through the cylinder structure to attach the turbine. After that, it was time to add a roof to add the finishing touch to the windmill.
Then off we went into the outdoor wind to test our windmill designs out to check that they worked. Success…we even found out that running with the windmill made the sails turn faster!
And then we were so excited with our windmills and how they worked that we had to share our creations with Mrs Dimbleby!!!
