Energy Sciences

Introduction

“The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it.” – Barack Obama¹

I consider myself a good teacher. Like other good teachers, I listen to and take suggestions from my coworkers. I then adapt these ideas to my purposes and make them fit my teaching style.  Many a fine teacher has pontificated on the subject of giant hamster balls. You’ve seen the clear plastic balls that encase a rodent and tumble all about the room as the critter explores. In an educational setting, these balls would be enlarged to contain students. Usually the purpose is to keep a straight line, eliminate cases of hands-on behavior, or to just add order to the ebb and flow of the school day. I teach kindergarten. It’s a bit like herding feral cats at times. Though not feral, my students possess vast amounts of energy, energy just waiting to be utilized. Kindergarten student plus giant hamster ball and some sort of turbine equals sustainable energy. If our president could tap into the bottomless energy reserves of five and six years old, America could be free of fossil fuels in no time. The solution to the global energy crisis lies in kindergarten. I actually believe this statement. Not so much in a kid-powered electrical grid, but the key to starting down Mr. Obama’s path to sustainable energy is education. There is no better place to start educating students about energy sources than kindergarten. I will be starting that education in my own classroom with this unit.

My classroom is found at Kathleen Wilbur Elementary school in Bear, Delaware. Wilbur is a K-5 public school of almost 1,200 students. The school draws from a fairly wide stretch of communities in the Colonial School District of New Castle County in northern Delaware. Our 1,200 come from a variety of social and economic backgrounds. We are a title I school and 100% of our students receive free breakfast and lunch. Wilbur houses 9 kindergarten classrooms. They typically are populated with between 18 and 22 students. Last year my class consisted of 22 students: 9 females and 13 males. My class included students receiving English Language Learner (ELL) support, and speech services. In previous years, I have also taught students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and behavioral plans in place. I would anticipate a similar class make-up in future years. As I do not anticipate Mr. Obama’s path to sustainable energy being traveled by giant hamster balls, I’ll focus on educating my kindergarteners on the subject of energy sciences.