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A Wind Farm in TexasLexile 770L

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5.7C: Alternative EnergyEarth and Space

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For spring break, Roberto’s dad was going to take him hiking in West Texas. As they drove through the empty desert toward the mountains, Roberto was surprised to see rows of what looked like giant white flowers standing in the sunlight.

“What is that?” asked Roberto, pointing.

“That is a wind farm!” said Roberto’s dad. 

Roberto’s dad chuckled. “You are right. Farms usually grow things. On a wind farm they do not grow anything, though. Turbines make electricity from wind energy. Wind is a renewable resource, and Texas has lots of wind, so there are wind farms in several parts of the state.” 

Roberto looked out the window again. When he looked closer, he noticed that the giant white things looked more like pinwheels than flowers, and they were turning slowly.

“So, how do those things make electricity?” he asked his dad.

“Those machines are called wind turbines,” said Dad. “Did you know those are about 260 feet tall? They are kind of like giant windmills. The blades catch the wind and turn to generate electricity.” 

“But my teacher said that we get electricity from coal and oil,” said Roberto.

“Sure we do, but coal and oil are not renewable energy sources. We need to find ways of making cleaner energy so that we do not use up our coal and oil resources. Sources like wind and solar power that do not cause pollution or use up fossil fuels are called alternative energy sources.”

Roberto looked puzzled. “They grow wind? How do they do that?”

Roberto looked out the window. “Those are really cool,” he said.  

His dad smiled. “Yes, they are. One extra cool thing about them is that they have little weather stations on top that monitor the speed and direction of the wind. The weather stations send the information to computers located inside the turbine that actually turn the blades into the wind, so they can catch the wind and rotate.” 

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5.7C: Alternative EnergyEarth and Space

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“I think so, too,” said Dad. “People are finding ways to create energy in all sorts of new ways these days – from the Sun, wind, and water. In fact, some really smart scientists have even figured out how to create fuel from cooking oil that is recycled from fryers in restaurants! It is called biodiesel.”

“Gross!” said Roberto.

“It might be gross,” said Dad, “but, you have to admit, it is also pretty creative.”

Dad and Roberto continued to drive past the wind farm, and as they did Roberto stared out the window and thought about all of the electricity that was being produced right in front of his eyes.

“Alternative energy sounds like a pretty smart idea. It is neat that somebody figured out how to get electricity from the wind.”

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1 The author’s main purpose in writing this passage is to…

A Tell a story about Roberto’s hiking trip

B Explain the purpose of wind farms

C Describe how we get energy from cooking oil

D Persuade the reader to use wind power

2 Why does Roberto think the wind farm “grows wind” at the beginning of the story?

A Roberto is silly.

B Roberto does not know what wind is.

C Roberto knows that farms usually grow things.

D Roberto’s dad is confusing.

3 Alternative energy is… (paragraph 10)

A Energy from coal or oil

B Energy that comes only from wind farms

C Energy that comes from sources that do not pollute or use fossil fuels

D Energy that is not renewable

5.7C: Alternative EnergyEarth and Space

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5 Which of these is a correct description of a wind farm?

A A farm where coal and oil are burned

B A place where wind is turned into electricity

C A place where farmers grow things

D A place where wind turbines can be recycled

5.7C: Alternative EnergyEarth and Space

4 Why do you think that the wind turbines were placed in the desert of West Texas?

A There is a lot of wind there.

B It is very sunny there.

C There are many people in West Texas.

D You can hike in West Texas.