Illustration of a person in a field with three windmills

Illustration by Taylor Callery

Chasing the Wind

How one teen brought light to his village—and changed his world

By Allison Friedman

From the May 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: to explore key ideas and details in a work of narrative nonfiction

Lexiles: 980L, 800L

Featured Skill: Key Ideas and Details,

Other Key Skills: text structure, author’s craft, inference

AS YOU READ

Think about the role electricity plays in our lives.

Fourteen-year-old William Kamkwamba stood at the top of a tall wooden tower, waiting for a miracle.

Gathered on the ground below were people from William’s small village in Malawi, a country in southeast Africa. The crowd buzzed with confusion and excitement.

What is this kid doing?

And what is THAT?

Attached to the top of the 16-foot tower was a strange machine: an upside-down bicycle bolted to a rusted metal fan. Four long plastic blades stuck out from the fan, creating the shape of an X.

This odd-looking contraption was a windmill, a device that converts energy from the wind into electricity. Like most people in their village, William’s family did not have electricity in their home. William’s hope was that this windmill would change that.

William had been working on the windmill for months—rummaging for odds and ends in a scrapyard, poring over science textbooks, tinkering, and testing. Now, finally, it was ready.

“Let’s see how crazy this boy really is,” someone called out.

William gripped a small lightbulb that was connected to the windmill with wires. Then he felt it: the beginnings of a breeze.

His machine rumbled and groaned, like a caged beast waiting to be set free. Here it goes, he thought.

Suddenly, the breeze swelled into a powerful gust that knocked William off balance. He clung tightly to a wooden rung as the tower swayed dangerously back and forth. The windmill’s long plastic blades began whirring furiously.

William stared at the bulb in his trembling hand, willing it to flicker to life. Would his dream of lighting up his home come true?

Lighting the World

Enlargeable image of the safari in Africa

Shutterstock.com

Malawi

Electricity is one of the most powerful natural forces on Earth, and it’s all around us. It’s what you see flashing in the sky during a storm. It’s the spark you feel when you shuffle your socked feet over a carpet and then touch a metal doorknob. It’s what makes your heart beat.

Electricity is also what we use to power our everyday lives. Consider, for a moment, how many times you’ve used electricity so far today. Maybe you flipped a switch in your room and the lights blinked on. Maybe you grabbed a breakfast burrito from the freezer and warmed it up in the microwave. Maybe you have a Chromebook plugged into the wall right now, charging. Most of us don’t think too much about electricity, but without it, none of those things would be possible.

But where does all that electricity come from, and how does it get to us?

In the United States, electricity is produced at nearly 12,000 large power plants. Most of these plants use heat to release energy from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. This energy is then converted into electricity. There are other sources of energy too, including windmills—like William’s—and solar panels, which use sunlight to create electricity.

A network of 600,000 miles of power lines carries electricity from power plants to homes and schools and businesses in the U.S. (Stretch those power lines out in a straight line and they’d wrap around Earth 24 times!) This massive system is known as an electrical grid. It powers our TVs, phones, refrigerators—basically, everything that makes modern life what it is.

Energy Poverty

Yet nearly 775 million people around the world have limited or no access to electricity. Most are in rural areas of Africa and South Asia, where many people do not live close enough to a power plant to have electricity delivered to them. Even for those who do live within range, the electrical grid can be unreliable, and getting connected to it can be difficult and expensive. This lack of access to a modern energy system is known as “energy poverty.”

For William and his family, living without electricity was a daily reality. Every morning, his sisters would trek more than three hours to gather firewood to cook breakfast and heat bathwater. Every evening, the family’s home would be plunged into darkness. When William wanted to stay up reading or studying, he had to light a small lantern filled with kerosene—a smelly fuel that can produce choking black smoke. Most of the time, it was easier to just go to bed when the sun went down, like most people in his village.

In areas without electricity, the lack of access affects almost every aspect of life. Without conveniences like washing machines, vacuums, and electric stoves, kids—especially girls—often spend so much time doing chores that they have little time for school. Farmers and business owners struggle to expand their businesses without computers. Patients are often treated in pitch-dark hospitals. And without internet access, people have a tough time communicating with the world beyond their villages.

Famine Hits

Growing up without TV or video games, William entertained himself by taking apart devices like radios to see how they worked. He dreamed of becoming a scientist.

“I was filled with the desire to understand, and the questions never stopped coming,” he later wrote in his memoir.

In the year 2000, William, then 13, was just about to start secondary school—what is called middle school in the U.S. He couldn’t wait to take real science classes with real lab equipment for experiments.

While he waited for the school year to begin, William helped his dad prepare for harvest season. Like most people in Malawi, William’s dad was a farmer who grew mainly maize. This corn is the backbone of the Malawian diet, often eaten as a porridge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Soon, though, a devastating drought caused most of the maize plants to wither in the ground. Without their staple crop, Malawians were soon suffering through a famine. As weeks of hunger stretched into months, William and his sisters often went to sleep to the sound of their stomachs growling.

Luckily, the next harvest was bountiful. But with little money to spare after a difficult year, William’s parents could no longer afford the fees for William to go to school.

His dream of becoming a scientist would have to wait.

Sparked by Electricity

As the school year started without him, William was determined to keep learning. He frequently visited a new public library near his village to check out the same textbooks that students his age were reading in school.

One day, a book called Using Energy caught his eye. On the cover was a row of tall white towers, each topped with blades spinning like a fan. Cracking the book open, William learned that these structures are called windmills. Their long spinning blades capture energy from wind and feed it into a generator to produce electricity.

Wind power is what’s known as a clean, renewable energy source. Unlike producing energy from fossil fuels, producing energy from wind does not create harmful gases that contribute to climate change. Plus, wind will always blow, so it can’t be depleted. Renewable energy sources are an especially exciting prospect in areas like William’s, where connecting to the electrical grid is virtually impossible.

As William read the textbook, a lightbulb went off in his head, as if sparked by electricity itself. With a windmill, William realized, he could replace his family’s smoky lanterns with bright electric lights. Even better, he could use a windmill to power a pump that would pipe water to his family’s maize fields. No longer dependent on rain to grow their crops, the family would be able to harvest twice a year. They would never go hungry again.

William knew exactly what he had to do. He was going to build a windmill.

A Treasure Trove

Shutterstock.com

bicycle dynamo

William couldn’t afford to purchase any materials, so he rummaged through a scrapyard heaped with broken-down junk: rusted pipes, dusty hoses, mangled car parts. To William, the scrapyard was a treasure trove. Bit by bit, he gathered the parts he needed. Meanwhile, he studied textbooks at the library, figuring out how to fit everything together.

The final piece of the puzzle was something called a bicycle dynamo. A dynamo is a small generator that can be attached to a bike wheel. It converts energy from the spinning wheel into electricity that powers the bike’s headlight.

On William’s windmill, the dynamo would be hooked up to his dad’s old bicycle, which would be bolted to the top of a wooden tower and connected to the windmill’s long plastic blades. When the wind spun the blades, the bicycle’s wheel would start turning, and the dynamo would produce electricity.

Or at least, that was the idea.

Would it work?

A Burst of Light

As he clung to the top of his windmill on that gusty day, gripping the lightbulb, William feared his months of hard work had been for nothing.

But then—a flicker.

The crowd below watched in awe as the flicker exploded into a glorious burst of light.

“Look!” someone shouted. “He’s made light!”

William laughed triumphantly. “I did it,” he said. “And I’m going bigger now. Just wait and see!”

Over the following months, William’s windmill enabled his family to fill their home with electric lights. News quickly spread of the young inventor and his incredible electricity-making machine.

Eventually, William was invited to speak at prestigious technology conferences, where he met scientists from around the world. To his great joy, he was offered the opportunity to go back to school.

And just as he’d dreamed, he was able to build a bigger windmill—and a solar-powered pump—to pipe water to his family’s farm and garden.

Looking to the Future

Today all the homes in William’s village glow with electric lights, thanks to solar panels that he helped install. He has also helped expand the area’s schools and outfit them with electricity, so future generations of curious students will be able to study long past sundown.

Now in his 30s, William runs a nonprofit organization in Malawi called Moving Windmills, which has brought clean energy and low-cost water wells to communities across the country. One of the group’s main goals is to mentor young changemakers and inspire them to come up with solutions to problems in their communities, just like William did.

William’s advice to these young changemakers is simple. “Do not let fear keep you from taking the first step,” he says. “You never know what help you will find along the way or what lessons you can learn.”

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

How to Be a Problem Solver

What William Kamkwamba wants you to know

What would you tell readers who want to solve a problem in their communities?

Never be afraid to start. When you are starting something new, a problem can seem too big or a plan can feel incomplete. Do not let fear keep you from taking the first step.

What qualities are most important for a problem solver?

Humor and curiosity. The challenges we face are big, but joy, fun, and happiness can help open our minds to solutions we wouldn’t think of otherwise. As a problem solver, you also have to be curious. You never want to be in a place where you are tired of learning or think you know everything.

What advice do you have for when things get tough?

Don’t let anyone discourage you. If you have a dream, work hard to achieve it. You can receive help from others on your journey, but don’t let negativity, fear, or shyness stop you from achieving your goals.

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

How to Be a Problem Solver

What William Kamkwamba wants you to know

What would you tell readers who want to solve a problem in their communities?

Never be afraid to start. When you are starting something new, a problem can seem too big or a plan can feel incomplete. Do not let fear keep you from taking the first step.

What qualities are most important for a problem solver?

What advice do you have for when things get tough?

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

How to Be a Problem Solver

What William Kamkwamba wants you to know

What would you tell readers who want to solve a problem in their communities?

Never be afraid to start. When you are starting something new, a problem can seem too big or a plan can feel incomplete. Do not let fear keep you from taking the first step.

What qualities are most important for a problem solver?

What advice do you have for when things get tough?

Writing Prompt

In a well-organized essay, explain the impact William Kamkwamba has had on his family, his village, and his country. Use text evidence.

^{This article was originally published in the May 2023 issue.}

Multimedia

video (1)

Three Questions for William Kamkwamba

Meet William Kamkwamba, who as a teen built a windmill and brought electricity to his village in Malawi.

Read Story

Three Questions for William Kamkwamba

Meet William Kamkwamba, who as a teen built a windmill and brought electricity to his village in Malawi.

Audio (1)

Narrative Nonfiction: Chasing the Wind

Read Story

Narrative Nonfiction: Chasing the Wind

Article Read-Aloud: “Chasing the Wind”

(13:30)

Vocabulary Words & Definitions

(03:20)

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing

3. Skill Building and Writing

4. Connected Reading

5. Support for Multilingual Learners

Essential Questions: Why is it important to ask questions? How can young people change the world? What role does electricity play in our lives?

1. PREPARING TO READ (30 MINUTES)

Do-Now: Journal and Discuss (10 minutes)

Project the following on your whiteboard as students walk into your classroom: Make a list of all the times you’ve used electricity today.

Invite volunteers to share their lists. Then tell students that today they will read about William Kamkwamba, who as a teen built a windmill to bring electricity to his village in Malawi.

Watch a Video (10 minutes)

Watch the Beyond the Story video, in which William Kamkwamba talks to your students about how to be a problem solver. Have students respond to the Video Discussion Questions (available in your Resources tab) in small groups or as a class.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

Project Vocabulary: Definitions and Practice. Review the definitions as a class. Highlighted words: converts, depleted, generator, outfit, poring, prestigious. Optionally, print or share the interactive link directly to your LMS and have students preview the words and complete the activity before class. Audio pronunciations of the words and a read-aloud are embedded in the interactive slides.

2. READING AND DISCUSSING (45 MINUTES)

Invite a volunteer to read the As You Read box on page 6 of the magazine or at the top of the digital story page.

Read the article once as a class. (Differentiation: Share the lower-Lexile version or the Spanish version of the article.) Optionally, have students listen to author Allison Friedman read her article aloud while they follow along. The audio read-aloud is located in the Resources tab in Teacher View and at the top of the story page in Student View.

Divide students into groups to read the article again and respond to the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)

Which section of the article continues the story that Friedman begins to tell in the introduction? Why might Friedman have structured her article in this way? (text structure, author’s craft) The section “A Burst of Light” continues the story that Friedman begins in the introduction. Friedman may have structured her article this way to create suspense. At the end of the introduction, she leaves readers not knowing whether William’s windmill will work. This creates suspense and makes readers want to keep reading to find out what will happen. After providing more background information about William and his family, his village, and his journey to make the windmill, she finally reveals toward the end of the article, in the section “A Burst of Light,” that William’s windmill did work and his dreams of bringing light to his home came true.

What is the purpose of the section “Lighting the World”? (text structure, key ideas and details) The section “Lighting the World” explains how important electricity is and how much we rely on it on a daily basis. This helps readers understand what William’s life was like without electricity, why he decided to build his windmill, and why he so desperately wanted it to be a success. The section also explains where electricity comes from (mostly power plants) and how electricity is delivered to people’s homes (electrical grids). This helps readers understand information that comes later in the article: that there are some places, like William’s village in Malawi, that are not able to have power plants deliver electricity to them.

In your own words, explain what “energy poverty” is. (key ideas and details) Energy poverty is a lack of access to electricity. It occurs in places that are too far away from power plants or in places where connecting to the available electrical grid is unreliable, difficult, and/or expensive.

Why is wind power a good source of energy in areas like William’s? (key ideas and details) Wind power is a good source of energy in areas like William’s because it is a renewable energy source, which means it cannot run out, and because it can be accessed from anywhere. William’s village can’t be connected to the electrical grid, so harnessing energy from something that is all around us—wind—is a much better alternative.

Consider the following quote from William: “I did it . . . And I’m going bigger now. Just wait and see!” What does this quote tell you about William? (inference) This quote tells you that William is determined, driven, generous, and confident. After achieving his goal of building a windmill and lighting up his home—a big accomplishment on its own—William was not done. The fact that William wanted to “go bigger” to help his community shows his drive, determination, and generosity. That he told his neighbors to “wait and see” shows that he believes in himself and his ability to achieve his goals.

Critical-Thinking Questions (5 minutes)

A goal of William’s nonprofit is to inspire young changemakers to come up with solutions to problems in their communities. Are there any problems in your community that you’d like to solve? How might you start trying to solve them? Answers will vary.

William says that humor and curiosity are the most important qualities for a problem solver to have. What other qualities do you think would be important? Why? Answers will vary, but some qualities students may list include: observant, resilient, open, flexible, innovative, creative, empathetic, and proactive.

In what ways, if any, do you think differently about electricity after reading this article? About energy sources? About your education? Answers will vary.

Invite a volunteer to read the As You Read box on page 6 of the magazine or at the top of the digital story page.

Read the article once as a class. (Differentiation: Share the lower-Lexile version or the Spanish version of the article.) Optionally, have students listen to author Allison Friedman read her article aloud while they follow along. The audio read-aloud is located in the Resources tab in Teacher View and at the top of the story page in Student View.

Divide students into groups to read the article again and respond to the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)

Which section of the article continues the story that Friedman begins to tell in the introduction? Why might Friedman have structured her article in this way? (text structure, author’s craft) The section “A Burst of Light” continues the story that Friedman begins in the introduction. Friedman may have structured her article this way to create suspense. At the end of the introduction, she leaves readers not knowing whether William’s windmill will work. This creates suspense and makes readers want to keep reading to find out what will happen. After providing more background information about William and his family, his village, and his journey to make the windmill, she finally reveals toward the end of the article, in the section “A Burst of Light,” that William’s windmill did work and his dreams of bringing light to his home came true.

What is the purpose of the section “Lighting the World”? (text structure, key ideas and details) The section “Lighting the World” explains how important electricity is and how much we rely on it on a daily basis. This helps readers understand what William’s life was like without electricity, why he decided to build his windmill, and why he so desperately wanted it to be a success. The section also explains where electricity comes from (mostly power plants) and how electricity is delivered to people’s homes (electrical grids). This helps readers understand information that comes later in the article: that there are some places, like William’s village in Malawi, that are not able to have power plants deliver electricity to them.

In your own words, explain what “energy poverty” is. (key ideas and details) Energy poverty is a lack of access to electricity. It occurs in places that are too far away from power plants or in places where connecting to the available electrical grid is unreliable, difficult, and/or expensive.

Why is wind power a good source of energy in areas like William’s? (key ideas and details) Wind power is a good source of energy in areas like William’s because it is a renewable energy source, which means it cannot run out, and because it can be accessed from anywhere. William’s village can’t be connected to the electrical grid, so harnessing energy from something that is all around us—wind—is a much better alternative.

Consider the following quote from William: “I did it . . . And I’m going bigger now. Just wait and see!” What does this quote tell you about William? (inference) This quote tells you that William is determined, driven, generous, and confident. After achieving his goal of building a windmill and lighting up his home—a big accomplishment on its own—William was not done. The fact that William wanted to “go bigger” to help his community shows his drive, determination, and generosity. That he told his neighbors to “wait and see” shows that he believes in himself and his ability to achieve his goals.

Critical-Thinking Questions (5 minutes)

A goal of William’s nonprofit is to inspire young changemakers to come up with solutions to problems in their communities. Are there any problems in your community that you’d like to solve? How might you start trying to solve them? Answers will vary.

William says that humor and curiosity are the most important qualities for a problem solver to have. What other qualities do you think would be important? Why? Answers will vary, but some qualities students may list include: observant, resilient, open, flexible, innovative, creative, empathetic, and proactive.

In what ways, if any, do you think differently about electricity after reading this article? About energy sources? About your education? Answers will vary.

3. SKILL BUILDING AND WRITING (30 MINUTES)

Have students complete the Writing Planner: William’s Windmill. This activity will help them organize their ideas in preparation for the activity on page 9 in the printed magazine and at the bottom of the digital story page.

Alternatively, have students choose a culminating task from the Choice Board, a menu of differentiated activities.

4. CONNECTED READING

Connected readings from the Scope archives about teen problem solvers:

Short Read: “Anything Is Possible” (May 2022)

You Write It Interview: “Teens’ Invention Keeps Drivers Safe” (December 2021/January 2022)

You Write It Interview: “Helping Animals (One Bow Tie at a Time)” (October 2021)

Short Read: “Her Designs Are Helping the Planet” (April 2021)

You Write It Interview: “Teen Inventor Hopes to Save Lives” (October 2019)

Narrative Nonfiction: “Island of Sorrow” (September 2018)

5. SUPPORT FOR MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS

These questions are designed to help students respond to the text at a level that’s right for them.

Yes/No Questions

Ask students to demonstrate comprehension with a very simple answer.

Did William’s village have access to electricity? No, it did not.
Are there other places in the world that do not have access to electricity? Yes, there are.
Is electricity important? Yes, it is.
Did William achieve his dream of bringing electricity to his village? Yes, he did.
Does William continue to bring electricity to places that need it? Yes, he does.

Either/Or Questions

Encourage students to use language from the question in their answer.

Does everyone have access to electricity, or are there some people who do not have electricity in their homes? There are some people who do not have electricity in their homes.
At first, did the people of William’s village believe in him, or did they think he was crazy? The people of William’s village thought he was crazy at first.
After William had to stop going to school, did he stop learning or did he keep teaching himself? After William had to stop going to school, he kept teaching himself.
Did William buy the materials he needed to build a windmill, or did he use scraps? William used scraps to build his windmill.
Did building his windmill have a positive effect on William and his community or a negative one? Building his windmill had a positive effect on William and his community.

Short-Answer Questions

Challenge students to produce simple answers on their own.

Why did William want to build a windmill? William wanted to build a windmill to generate electricity for his home.
How does William’s nonprofit help others today? William’s nonprofit brings clean energy and low-cost water wells to communities across Malawi.

Language-Acquisition Springboard: Retell the most important idea in each section.

Encourage multilingual learners to summarize the story as they read. As they reach the end of each section, ask them to write one sentence that describes the most important idea or event in that section.

For students who need more support, read aloud the two options for each section given below and have students choose:

Introduction: (a) Teen William Kamkwamba tested his windmill in front of a crowd in his village. (b) Teen William Kamkwamba is from a small village in the country of Malawi.
“Lighting the World”: (a) Electricity plays an important role in our lives. (b) In the United States, electricity is produced at large power plants.
“Energy Poverty”: (a) Many people around the world do not have access to electricity. (b) If William wanted to stay up at night to read, he had to use a kerosene lamp.
“Famine Hits”: (a) William grew up without TV or video games. (b) William had to stop going to school after Malawi endured a drought and a famine.
“Sparked by Electricity”: (a) William educated himself about wind energy at his public library. (b) William’s family grows maize.
“A Treasure Trove”: (a) A dynamo helps power a bike’s headlight. (b) William built his windmill out of scrap materials.
“A Burst of Light”: (a) William was afraid his windmill would not work. (b) William’s dreams of lighting up his home and going back to school both came true.
“Looking to the Future”: (a) William is now in his 30s. (b) William continues to have a positive impact on his village and country.

These questions are designed to help students respond to the text at a level that’s right for them.

Yes/No Questions

Ask students to demonstrate comprehension with a very simple answer.

Did William’s village have access to electricity? No, it did not.
Are there other places in the world that do not have access to electricity? Yes, there are.
Is electricity important? Yes, it is.
Did William achieve his dream of bringing electricity to his village? Yes, he did.
Does William continue to bring electricity to places that need it? Yes, he does.

Either/Or Questions

Encourage students to use language from the question in their answer.

Does everyone have access to electricity, or are there some people who do not have electricity in their homes? There are some people who do not have electricity in their homes.
At first, did the people of William’s village believe in him, or did they think he was crazy? The people of William’s village thought he was crazy at first.
After William had to stop going to school, did he stop learning or did he keep teaching himself? After William had to stop going to school, he kept teaching himself.
Did William buy the materials he needed to build a windmill, or did he use scraps? William used scraps to build his windmill.
Did building his windmill have a positive effect on William and his community or a negative one? Building his windmill had a positive effect on William and his community.

Short-Answer Questions

Challenge students to produce simple answers on their own.

Why did William want to build a windmill? William wanted to build a windmill to generate electricity for his home.
How does William’s nonprofit help others today? William’s nonprofit brings clean energy and low-cost water wells to communities across Malawi.

Language-Acquisition Springboard: Retell the most important idea in each section.

For students who need more support, read aloud the two options for each section given below and have students choose:

Introduction: (a) Teen William Kamkwamba tested his windmill in front of a crowd in his village. (b) Teen William Kamkwamba is from a small village in the country of Malawi.
“Lighting the World”: (a) Electricity plays an important role in our lives. (b) In the United States, electricity is produced at large power plants.
“Energy Poverty”: (a) Many people around the world do not have access to electricity. (b) If William wanted to stay up at night to read, he had to use a kerosene lamp.
“Famine Hits”: (a) William grew up without TV or video games. (b) William had to stop going to school after Malawi endured a drought and a famine.
“Sparked by Electricity”: (a) William educated himself about wind energy at his public library. (b) William’s family grows maize.
“A Treasure Trove”: (a) A dynamo helps power a bike’s headlight. (b) William built his windmill out of scrap materials.
“A Burst of Light”: (a) William was afraid his windmill would not work. (b) William’s dreams of lighting up his home and going back to school both came true.
“Looking to the Future”: (a) William is now in his 30s. (b) William continues to have a positive impact on his village and country.

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Chasing the Wind

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Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing

3. Skill Building and Writing

4. Connected Reading

5. Support for Multilingual Learners

1. PREPARING TO READ (30 MINUTES)

2. READING AND DISCUSSING (45 MINUTES)

3. SKILL BUILDING AND WRITING (30 MINUTES)

4. CONNECTED READING

5. SUPPORT FOR MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS

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Chasing the Wind

How to Be a Problem Solver

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Multimedia

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Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read 2. Reading and Discussing 3. Skill Building and Writing 4. Connected Reading 5. Support for Multilingual Learners

1. PREPARING TO READ (30 MINUTES)

2. READING AND DISCUSSING (45 MINUTES)

3. SKILL BUILDING AND WRITING (30 MINUTES)

4. CONNECTED READING

5. SUPPORT FOR MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS

More From This Issue

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1. Preparing to Read

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3. Skill Building and Writing

4. Connected Reading

5. Support for Multilingual Learners