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.
Hello Collon,
ReplyDeleteI like your choice on energy. It is a big topic of concern for many people. I like your idea of blogging, it reminded me of my moodle site so that my students can blogg each other on there and tart journaling. I am also faced with very few computers for students to use and would have to schedule time in the library for them to blog.
Here is another site that might be helpful: http://library.thinkquest.org/17658/
Also another site i found is http://www.michellehenry.fr/energy.htm
There are also passive applications for cooling the home using the position of the house and geothermal energy which uses the heat from the eart to warm and cool the house (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008). I tried having students draw their homes and take into account the side the sun is up the most and decide where they would place their trees.
Thanks, Adam
References
Tillery, B. W., Enger, E. D., & Ross, F. C. (2008). Integrated science (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
I also liked your choice of energy as your topic to investigate. I have been thinking of energy more since we had the discussion about renewable energy a couple of weeks ago. The application that I turned in today was about the chemical reaction of a car engine and comparing that to the chemical reaction of a battery powered electric engine.
ReplyDeleteI liked this website because it really did spell it out in simple terms.
http://www.nmsea.org/Curriculum/Primer/forms_of_energy.htm
I am shocked to hear you have parents that would not want students to participate in the blog. That is too bad. I teach an hour east of Los Angeles and have not ran into that particular problem. I can see middle schoolers loving to blog and share their opinions and knowledge with each other on the computer
Thanks for some great sites. We usually get to cover energy and you provided us with some great sites I'll be able to utilize. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to cover as much as would have like this year. We just wrapped up the year and I found I didn't get as far as I usually do.
ReplyDeleteI also have to admit I'm not surprised parents wouldn't want their students to participate in the blog. The internet boom was about 15 years back and some older parents may not be very computer literate and feel uncomfortable with their children involved with it. I'm not saying it’s right, but if you are not very PC savvy, the computer can be very intimidating. Maybe that's what you're facing.
Good thoughts about energy. I am sure it is a topic that is going to become bigger and bigger and the students we have now in our classrooms get older.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sent out my welcome letter last year, I mentioned that we like to use a lot of technology in my classroom and getting the students comfortable and proficient with it. I had a parent who wanted their daughter switched into another classroom because they did not want their daughter "on a computer" in my classroom. I was a bit shocked and thought what in the world do they think we will be doing? Surfing the web? I don't know. I agree with Chris in thinking if the parents aren't very savvy or computer literate, they will not have a comfort level in allowing their child to be.
Still, it is crazy to think that a parent would want to change their child out of a technology-rich classroom! I think some parents think the internet and technology is just going to go away! If anything, I think that most teachers do not expose students to ENOUGH technology- whether by choice, maybe they don't feel comfortable with it themselves, or maybe, like in my case, technology is limited in the school.
ReplyDeleteSome partents think the kids are too young for social networking. Our GT program put the students on blog sites. Many parents won't give permission for students to go onto the internet for research. Concerns are valid, of course, with all the crazy things that do happen.
ReplyDeleteI tried to focus my 3rd grade energy discussions on wind energy as a great future option. (Your boys are adorable!)