Energy Sciences

Content Objectives

For years, I have read and observed quarreling within my community due to an uproar about the effect coal mining is having on the community. The Diné have a high percentage of people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma and black lungs disease. Some feel it is directly related to the pollution of the coal mining industry. While growing up, I witnessed many protests in the surrounding communities over coal mining. I only gave it a tiny speck of concern, and thought the Western scientists would quickly fix the problem, as though someone would say “Poof” and it will dissipate and life would be jolly again. Well, it is not that simple, but, slowly as I made sense of this issue, it evolved into a monstrous thing called – Global Warming. The greenhouse effect results from carbon dioxide trapping heat. Carbon dioxide is a gas considered good for some living organisms and bad for other living species in the environment. This mysterious gas was revealed to be not only a problem in my small community, but is a global issue. It’s in the atmosphere. So invisible! It took me by surprise. The problem was real and I did not know how to comfort my people. Now I recognized the issue very well and I know the need for education.

Why did I struggle with this mysterious concept? Since most gases are colorless and odorless, the hole in the ozone cannot be seen by looking into the sky. Therefore, I did not realize how the atmosphere was being harmed. It’s a surprising concept and as a result I thought I would make it real for my students. 

According to Arizona 5^th Grade Science Standards and Arizona College and Career Ready Standards, students will be using the inquiry process to establish the basis for students learning about science. Students will use the following scientific processes: questioning, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, and communicating results. Both Navajo Culture and history standards and also State of Arizona Science standards indicate Navajo students will be able to build on the knowledge and skills from local and cultural communities as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life. 

Comparing and contrasting strategies will be utilized to learn about the current uses of the natural resources and minerals by Native American and western cultures. In this unit, the carbon cycle and understanding how concentrations of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere fluctuate as the seasons transform.⁵ Even with these seasonal changes, the overall vastness of CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere as a result of people’s activities, which are altering the natural carbon cycle.⁶ Furthermore, students will learn to formulate and test the level of CO₂ and communicate a comparison to other groups, and then compare and contrast to the historical significance of scientific discoveries. Last, students will demonstrate understanding of how scientific knowledge, skills, and technological capabilities are important to a variety of careers.