A specific content area of physical science that I wanted to focus on is energy. Although the lesson from this week on chemistry intrigued me, or lit a fire, if you will, to learn what I have forgotten, and to learn more about chemistry, my focus will be on what my own students’ need- energy. Energy concerns are becoming prevalent and very real for students of all ages. I know that my twin boys that just finished third grade constantly discuss renewable and nonrenewable energy, what can we do to help for our corner of the world, and what it means for their future.
The following are some websites that I use to supplement my unit on energy.
Defines the basic types of energy in an easy way to understand.
Looks at energy in terms of fossil fuels, renewable sources, and nuclear sources.
This website takes a look at hydropower, bioenergy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and PV cells.
With this topic being controversial and so political at the moment, I think it would be a great teaching tool for students to understand these implications of different forms of energy and what they mean to our future, as citizens. Students could watch some parts of “An Inconvenient Truth” and well as conduct research to create a standpoint on these energy topics. Because this is such a hot topic in today’s scientific world, as well as political world, students that are prepared to discuss and know about these topics will be capable to be the promising leaders of tomorrow.
Through my experience with blogging, I think that students would truly learn from and enjoy blogging about important science topics, such as energy. Students could participate much like we have. They would be assigned to groups so that everyone’s thoughts (blogs) would be read and responded to. Students of the middle level would love to not only be able to voice their opinions, but also feel validated when their peers respond to their blogs. I worry some about integrating blogging because of the limited use of computers in my school. We are a K4-6th grade school with only one computer lab to use. With so many computerized tests that are administered throughout the year, it would be difficult to schedule regular time in the lab. As crazy as it seems, I also worry about some parents not willing to allow their child to participate. In the intense rural area where I teach, there are a lot of parents that just aren’t ready to buy in to technology. (Again, I said it was crazy.) But it is still a very real problem for me.
