Purpose / Goal of your lesson

Indigenous Windmill

The goal is to demonstrate how an

alternative energy concept can be
culturally relevant. Specifically, if pre-
contact Hawaiians had access to electric
motors and copper wire, would it have
been possible for them to construct a
working wind turbine from plant materials
available on the island?
 Inquiry target 

• Can a wind turbine be constructed

out of indigenous plant materials?
 Mechanics of your lesson

• 1. Have students observe the construction

of the PVC windmill kit.
• 2. Brainstorm ideas for how a windmill
could be constructed out of indigenous
materials.
• 3. Make a list of the materials that need to
be gathered.
• 4. Divide the class into teams.
• 5. Require each team to prepare a drawing
of their proposed design.
• 6. Provide each team with a motor, some
connecting wire, and a multimeter.
Standard/Benchmark or
learning outcome

Each student will be able to

describe how a wind turbine
transforms mechanical
energy to electrical energy.
 Outcome 

• Each team of students will design,

construct, and test a windmill that
they have constructed from
indigenous plants available to pre-
contact Hawaiians.
What worked/didn’t work
Students
successfully figured
out how to attach
bamboo together to
create the
foundation. In this
photo, string is
used to lash the
notched bamboo
together, but the
final product used
the bark from the
indigenous
Hawaiian Hibiscus
(Hau).
Reinforcing the Foundation
The structure was
extremely unstable
and had to be
reinforced with
multiple strands of
braided Hau. Even
then, to ensure the
necessary rigidity, the
structure had to be
lashed to a picnic table
to prevent it from
collapsing in the wind.
 Final Structure
Here is a photo showing
the completed structure.
The boom holding the
fan is comprised of a
solid piece of Hau
inserted into a section of
bamboo. The Hau
section extends beyond
the end of the bamboo
and is inserted into a
notch near the top of the
main bamboo vertical
shaft and then lashed
together with more
What didn’t Work
The blades of the windmill
are made from pieces of
folded Hau bark that are
stiched onto the spindles
with braided bark. Initial
efforts to get the blades to
maintain their angle in the
wind failed. The primary
problems are securing the
blade pieces to the
spindles and making sure
that the blade angle is
maintained. More
 Recommendations

• This is a great activity. We linked it to

other uses of the Hau plant including its
use as outriggers for canoes (low density)
and it’s relative ease in starting a fire
from scratch. We used the native
American Indian bow method to
demonstrate how ancient Hawaiians
could have employed Hau to keep the
home fires burning.
Student work/ photos