May 10, 2012 - Windmill Day

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n Windmillsnseem like an old-fashioned way to harness power—but wind turbinesnin lines and grids and entire “wind farms” are suddenly modernnand popular again.
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A wind farm

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A modern
wind turbine

nThentilted blades or “sails” of a windmill catch the wind and turn,nand it is this rotational energy that is captured and transferred tona mechanical device inside. That energy could be used to do manynthings, from moving huge stones that grind wheat, to pumpingngroundwater up, to creating electricity. n

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Thenfirst known windmill was built by an ancient Greek engineer innAlexandria, Egypt. Other early windmills were built in China andnPersia. These ancient technologies were built in the first to fourthncenturies. n

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nPeoplenin the Netherlands built many windmills—and, as a matter of fact,nthe windmills helped to build the Netherlands! Many windmills werenused to pump away water and drain land that could then be used fornfarming. There are more than a thousand working windmills still innthe Netherlands—and it is such a common sight in the countrysidenthat the windmill has become a national symbol of sorts.
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nAnothernthing people associate with windmills is the fictional character DonnQuixote, a Spaniard who wants to restore chivalry and thinks ofnhimself as a brave knight. Don Quixote jousted (fought) with enemiesnsuch as hulking giants with huge, flailing arms. Of course thesen“giants” were really windmills. Because of this character, wenmight say about somebody, “He’s just tilting at windmills,” whichnmeans that the person is wasting his time attacking imaginarynenemies.

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nMakena windmill. n

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nTrynthese instructions, from Zoom.

nThenArtists Helping Children website gives you printable patterns to use.nn

nOrntry DLTK’s windmill, an origami creation.

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nAlsonon this date:

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