Strategies, Activities, And Lessons
This unit is a pretty long one and there will be many more lessons than what you see here. The selected lessons represent different sections of the overall unit — some of the lessons came from units already presented by me or other teachers, some are new.
Just as continued reading, researching, discussing, and experimenting will lead to additional knowledge for me, it will indirectly lead to additional lessons and knowledge for my students. So, I am deliberately allowing some wiggle room for adding and modifying my lesson activity schedule. For those interested in using this unit, I will happily provide a more detailed list of activities used [27].
The full list of activities will include hands-on experiential activities, reading and reporting, demonstration/observations, field trips, guest speakers, videos and more.
What follows are some samples of the class activities I intend to use in this unit. They are presented in the order in which I plan to use them.
Examples
What is Energy?
Energy is the ability to do work. Energy makes lights glow, radios play and you can feel it. In this lesson, students will brainstorm different types of energy and discuss the different ways energy is used, by humans, animals, and Nature. Students will also discuss the different natures of energy — be it volatile or benign. The lesson will culminate with an activity where the students hold hands in a circle, with two adjoining students holding the terminal ends of a hand generator (not too powerful). The class will feel the energy passing through them. As one student at a time leaves the circle, the current will get stronger. Students will discuss and keep a journal about their experience, including such things as what they expected to happen, what did happen, and what would happen if the current were changed. The journal will also contain their thoughts, observations and findings regarding the nature of energy.
What Is Global Warming?
Global warming comes from excess CO 2, and other greenhouse gases, preventing heat from escaping Earth's atmosphere.
There are several parts to this activity. The first part will include discussions concerning the causes of global warming and the consequences. Students will take notes from lectures by their teacher and a guest (local renewable energy expert). They will view videos made by Al Gore [19], United Streaming [28], an NPR series of cartoons about the carbon cycle [18], and a special video on global warming by Discovery Education on United Streaming [29]. This lesson should take about two days. Students will work in small groups, comparing notes and doing follow up research. After they have a fundamental understanding on the academic side, they will use experiments to solidify their understanding.
Students will demonstrate some effects of global warming and experience the greenhouse effect via experiments and hands-on activities. One of the activities on global warming has to do with the temperature difference between covered versus open containers by using thermometers and beakers in the sun. Students, in small teams, will put ice and water in the beakers. One of their beakers will be covered with plastic wrap and one will be covered with a foam lid. One will be open. They will use their thermometers to measure the temperatures in beakers of water over time. They will track and graph their data on all three beakers. Different groups may use different locations for their study (e.g., window sill, open ground, shaded or protected ground). Then, students will hypothesize about their results — before and after the test.
Another experiment will demonstrate how melting ice caps and glaciers will affect the sea's levels. Using a water table, students will construct a model coastline with a sea. Ice, representing the polar ice cap, will be placed on the water and left to melt. After observing and discussing the results, more ice will be placed on the land representing glaciers. That ice will be allowed to melt as well. Further observations, note taking, and discussion will follow.
Each of these lessons should take one day.
Additional global warming lesson ideas can be found in the "Additional Reading and Resources for Teachers" at the end of this unit.
How Does Global Warming Change the Arctic, Arctic Sea ice and Inuit people?
In this lesson, students will read in a website about cultural issues that global warming is forcing certain people to deal with [30]. Students will also research Arctic people on Internet sites and in library books. They will also learn about the native perspective on the juxtaposition of tradition and the modern age from a Native American guest speaker.
Since my students live in close proximity to Native American culture, this part is notably relevant in their lives. Native peoples do find conflict between their "traditional" culture and the modern culture of America (e.g., technological advances, family relations, and real estate management). My students will compare the changes imposed on native peoples in different places and eras. They will follow up their study on this part with a short (500 — 800 words) report.
Alternative Life Styles
Students will complete a Webquest, exploring alternatives to fossil fuels [31].
Webquests are guided research projects. The Webquest they will use instructs them in their research steps and understanding the resulting products. Their teachers will help guide them and correct misdirection periodically.
Designing a Windmill
There are two strategies to this part. In both, students will view videos and pictures of different windmills. They will discuss what we know about their uses (students will have read and studied extensively on the history and mechanics of wind power).
Students will be challenged to design a windmill model (in teams) that will actually work. Each group will be given a budget and access to "the store" where they will have choices of what materials they wish to buy for their project. If students create a valid argument for additional materials that are not available in "the store," then the teacher will determine the practicality of obtaining those materials and proceed accordingly.
They will have one day to come up with a plan. On day two, we will share ideas and revise plans. On day three, we start work, and on day four, we review the students' progress and make decisions about continuing with our plan. If the class is doing well, we will continue for another week.
Some examples of materials they can buy are; straws of different sizes, paper towel and wrapping paper tubes, popcycle sticks, plastic bottles (gallons and two-liter), bearings and lubrication, scissors, dowels, wood boards, lamps, wire, magnets, glue (hot and cold), rubber bands (different sizes), clay, string, and "other." Each team will get a small motor and everyone will have access to wind (hair blowers and different fans). Many of these items are used in commercial wind turbine kits.
The back up plan is to have 10 kits to use for the students to build. We can also use the kits as a model to help them in their own design efforts. See "Additional Reading And Resources For Teachers" for information on PicoTurbine, a resource for wind turbine plans and kits.
At the end of this lesson, we will test the windmills using lamps and LEDs. We will also measure with an amp/volt meter.
If You Build It, Will It (Wind) Come?
Students will take notes from a lecture and forum by windmill expert about locations — considering landforms, prevailing weather patterns, political concerns, and proximity to the grid. They will follow the talk by doing their own research about where to locate a wind farm. Student research resources will include the lecture and forum, Internet (news stories and professional journals), maps, and personal journals. They will use PowerPoint to present their decisions to the class.
Are You Going To Believe Me, Or Your Lying Eyes?
Students will construct a convincing argument for allowing a windmill to be constructed on the school grounds using their learning over the past several weeks. The teacher will help guide and lead them in developing their case. They will learn to present it through argument and debate, practice in front of other classes, and they will deliver their final presentation before the Santa Fe County Commission and New Mexico State Legislature.
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