1. Problem Based Learning:
How can I create an original machine to
accurately measure wind speed and
direction for four weeks?

2. Ms. Frizzle’s Wind Breaker Team
Hi! I’m Meredith
Doepner, and I work on
Ms. Frizzle’s team as a
data collector, and
recorder.
I’m Katelyn Kingseed, and
I love being Ms. Frizzle’s
consultant
communicator, and data
collector.
Hello! I’m Rachel Landa
and I help update Ms.
Frizzle’s website and
collect data.
"The Magic Wind Bus"

3. Let’s get started!
• Brainstorming activity
-How will we deal with materials, location, weather, design, time,
and personal responsibilities?
-Investigative Question
• Investigation considerations
-Location for data collection
-Time of data collection
-Conversion to mph
-Consultants
• Planning considerations
-Background information
-Data Collection
-When to meet?
-National Weather Service

4. How did we investigate?
• Developed Investigative Question
• Researched Wind Machine Designs
• Contacted Consultants
• Decided on group meeting time/place
• Sketched potential wind machine design
• Purchased materials
• Constructed the machine
• Calibrated machine
• Made data collection schedule
• Started 4 week data collection
• Designed group website
• Started brainstorming ideas for presentation
• Finished data collection/data table online
• Finalized presentation and website
Beginning
Middle
End

5. What you might find!
Data Table
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahpxn7z_l3ZddFhkZzNoT195d
zdHSklFYXBkRjFsLUE&hl=en&authkey=CNGBy_wP#gid=0
Group Website
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TheWindbreakers/126564847398074?v=
wall

6. What have we learned?
• Our data did not show a consistent relationship between daily weather
patterns and the speed and direction of the wind.
• Wind and Weather ARE related, but are also very different.
– We get wind when air flows from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure.
– The weather patterns are based on the location of those areas of high and low
pressure.
• High pressure usually brings clear weather.
• Low pressure usually brings stormy weather
• There must be another component in addition
to weather patterns causing the wind
to behave in such a manner.

7. How could we improve?
• In the future we would…
– Test more machine designs
before finalizing ours
– Make more specific jobs for
team members from the
beginning
– Involve all subject areas
• With a special emphasis on
physical education, art, and
literacy
– Change the variable we
tested

8. A word from our Consultant

9. In your own classroom…
• Implementing PBL in your own classroom
• In a Special Education Classroom
• Technology Used:
• E-mail
• Microsoft Office
– Excel
– Word
– PowerPoint
• Google Docs
• Google websites
• Facebook
• Youtube

10. Sources Used:
• Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/5818/globalwinds.html
• Retrieved from http://learn.kidwind.org/
• Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/