Windmills

This passage details the history of windmills.

Lexile Level: 760L

Categories: History Science & Technology


Windmills are beautiful things. They take the natural power of the wind and convert it into practical power on the ground. Humans have been using them for over 1,300 years. The first ones were found in Persia and China. Older windmills were mounted on the sides of city walls. As we improved windmills, humans made them so that they could turn them to face into the wind no matter which way the wind was blowing. For most of their history, we used windmills for grinding and sawing. In America windmills used to be very common. They were used to pump water. That is why you could see them on rural farms, especially out west. It was hard to get electricity there, so people used the power of the wind to get water deep out of the ground. They are magnificent, pulling the wind's energy for us to use.


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