Energy Sciences

Teaching Strategies

This unit incorporates learning about conventional energy sources: including the different ways in which it is produced, which sources were predominantly used historically, environmental effects, and research about alternative renewable energies. As part of the unit, students will research local energy resources. This unit can be adapted to fit any region, just frame it with a local natural disaster (or a zombie apocalypse if your students are into that).

Pictorial Input Chart³²  

Before students learn about energy sources, we will review photosynthesis (covered in the previous unit) as it relates to the carbon cycle by doing a lecture style direct instruction through the use of a Pictorial Input Chart telling the story of the carbon cycle.

Cornell Note Taking and Research

Cornell Note³³ taking is a common note taking strategy that can be used in any lecture, video, discussion, or reading. Students take notes on the right side of the page and write questions on the left side, highlighting content vocabulary and underlining any important information. Students then write a summary of the notes by succinctly answering the questions from the left side.

Outside the Classroom

The greenhouse effect will be illustrated through a visit to our school’s greenhouse. The sixth grade students will also take a field trip the Lawrence Hall of Science. On this field trip they will hear from a group of college students taking a class called “Communicating Climate Change”. The topics range from rising sea levels to the carbon cycle to ocean acidification. Once students have an understanding of the basics of how energy is generated and the different environmental impacts, they will research different alternative renewable energies and create a poster that describes how it works and the advantages and disadvantages.

Concept Mapping

Concept mapping,³⁴ or a word web, is a type of graphic organizer and way for students to conceptualize and retain the information learned in this unit. The concept map can be used as a formative assessment of the research progress as well as a tool used in an academic discussion. Key vocabulary words from the unit such as: energy, renewable, non-renewable, oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, carbon, carbon dioxide, wind energy, geothermal energy, hydro power, solar, thermal, etc. are provided for the students along with “mortar” words used to connect one concept to another.

Socratic Seminar

A Socratic Seminar is a structured way for students to discuss a concept they have been learning about in class. Students should be sitting in a circle with the annotated reading, notes, and concept map from the lesson above in front of them for the duration of the discussion.

Engineering Project

Students will work collaboratively to build, using only items commonly found in their homes, a contraption that will cook food and make potable water. They will plan and build a prototype, test, and redesign based on their initial research and results.