15th June Global Wind Day

Global Wind Day is a worldwide event that occurs annually on 15 June. It is a day for discovering wind energy, its power and the possibilities it holds to reshape our energy systems, decarbonise our economies and boost jobs and growth. 

The wind is a vitally important phenomenon that has been used throughout history in many ways. Its power has inspired mythological tales and has given names to gods. Its existence regulates the Earth's temperature, shapes the relief, enhances biodiversity by dispersing seeds and, in addition, its thrust has become a source of energy, from the time when it pushed sailing ships across the seas to the present day, where it is an energy resource that is becoming more and more important.

Wind is moving air and it is caused by differences in air pressure  within our atmosphere. Air under high pressure moves toward areas of low pressure. The greater the difference in pressure, the faster the air flows. 

Winds have different levels of speed, such as “breeze” and “gale”, depending on how fast they blow. Wind speeds are based on the descriptions of winds in a scale called the Beaufort Scale. Some of a child's vocabulary is based on wind...gust, waft, blow, draft, tornado, gale... and knowing what differentiates them.

In 1810, a British naval officer and surveyor named Francis Beaufort developed a scale to give sailors a common language for describing the wind. From 0 (calm) to 12 (hurricane). You can read about this scale here:

• Close to the Wind by Peter Malone

• Hear the Wind Blow  by Doe Boyle and Emily Paik

• Wild is the Wind  by Grahame Baker-Smith

• Wind  by Olga Fadeeva and Lena Traer

• Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros

• I Face the Wind  by science book writer Vicki Cobb and Julia Gorton shows a young girl demonstrating the properties of wind through her own observations and a series of easy-to-read-and-do activities and experiments, using common household materials.

• Energy Island by Allan Drummond is the story of Samso, a windy island in Denmark. The environmentally friendly inhabitants of this island now proudly call their home Energy Island as a result of their work with wind power. 

People have harnessed the power of the wind for thousands of years, to travel by sailboat, to cool homes, to grind grain into flour, and even to make music. But when someone hooked a wind mill to a generator, wind went electric, unlocking the secret to a clean, renewable energy source.

• Wind Power  by Laura Driscoll is a biography about wind.

• Generating Wind Power  by Niki Driscoll is a more traditional nonfiction text.

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Elizabeth Zunon is the story of when fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba's, Malawi village was hit by a drought and  everyone's crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library . . . and figured out how to bring electricity to his village.

• Electric Wind: The Story of  William Kamkwamba by Kerrie Shanahan

Kites, birds, and airplanes all require the power of wind to fly, but they all use it in different ways.

• Flying High With Wind  by  Goo-Reum Seo and Joo-Mi Lee

• Kate, Who Tamed the Wind  by Liz Garton Scanlon and Lee White tells the story of Kate who plants trees as a wind break in order to help a man troubled by wind.

Stories also show the power of the wind. The fable about the sun and the wind trying to remove a man's coat demonstrates this and is the topic of many picture books such as:

• The Contest Between the Wind and the Sun  by Heather Forest and Susan Gaber

• The North Wind and the Sun  by Brian Wildsmith

and soon to be 

•  The North Wind and the Sun  by Philip C. Stead

• Mrs Mopple's Washing Line  by Anita Hewett  and Robert Broomfield

• The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins

• Peggy by Anna Walker

• The Windy Farm  by Doug McLeod and Craig Smith

Then you can explore kites, hurricanes, tornadoes, twisters, windmills ... the list goes on.

For fun, revisit the adage When the Wind Changed using Ruth Park and Deborah Niland's picture book or revisit another oldie but goodie Gilberto and the Wind by Marie Hall Ets

Not enough? Look here.

And, why would a bird be called Windcatcher in the book of that name by Diane Jackson Hill and Craig Smith, and can the wind whisper? See Mizuto and the Wind by Kaye Baillie and Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki which explores the Japanese concept of the wind telephone.

Do you like the wind? As a teacher, I do not as it really winds the students up, but if I am tucked up safely at home it amazes me the power it can exert.