Energy in Earth’s Systems MST Inquiry Unit plan

Energy in Earth’s SystemsMST Inquiry Unit plan By: Rachel Didia, Nicole Deyo and RanaFalah Professor O’Connor -Petruso Education 713.22 Summer 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS • Graphic organizer of lessons • Lesson #1 All about the Sun • Lesson #3 Collecting & Storing Energy from the Sun • Lesson #6 Solar Energy Scavenger Hunt • Filamentalitywebpage on Energy in Earth Systems • Web tools 2.0 ( Educational YouTube Videos for kids)

Graphic Organizer of Lessons Lesson #2: How is the Sun’s Energy Used on Earth Lesson #3: Collecting & storing energy from the Sun Lesson #1: All about the Sun Energy in Earth’s Systems Lesson #4: A Reason for the Season Lesson #6: Solar Energy Scavenger Hunt Lesson #5: Photosynthesis

Lesson #1: Behavioral Objectives Students will be able to: ● Explain that the sun is far away from the earth and much larger than the earth ● Describe how the sun provides light and warmth and is necessary for plants and animals to live ● Understand that the sun is our nearest star

Motivation: • “Good morning class! Who loves to be outside? How many of you love when it is sunny outside? Today we are going to start a unit on the sun and the relationship of the sun to the earth. The sun plays a big part in our everyday lives and activities.”

Procedure: 1) Hand a box with a sphere inside to each student. Ask them to open the box and tell you what shape they are holding. Ask students what object in the sky looks like a sphere. 2) Tell the students to write a letter to a scientist identifying the sun without using the word sun. 3) After they complete the activity create a KWL chart. 4) Conduct a read aloud with the book, The Sun by: Seymour Simon. 5) During read aloud make sure all students are attentive.

Procedure: Continued 6) After the reading show students pictures of NASA solar images. 7) Ask students if they have any questions about the sun. Put their questions in the W section of the KWL chart. 8) Ask students to make entries in their science journals using the following guiding questions: a. What did you study today?b. What are some new things you learned today?c. What questions do you have about what you learned? d. Describe three characteristics of the sun

Homework/Extension For homework, tell the students to read over their letters and check if their descriptions are correct. They should also add details that they missed.

KWL Chart

Letter to a Scientist about the _____ _____ ____ Dear Scientist, Of all the billions and billions of stars in the universe only one star really matters to us. This star has been shining for almost five billion years and without it life would be very different on earth. Life on earth would not be possible without this star. Plants utilize this star to aid in photosynthesis. Humans and other mammals need energy from this star for visual light and heat. This star is also responsible for determining our weather and climate. This star is very big and measures about 700,000 miles. Can you guess which star I am referring to? Sincerely, James Cohen

Assessment: • The journal entries will give a good indication of what students have learned about the Sun and what kinds of questions they are developing about the topic. Read over students’ answers to the journal questions and grade them based on the rubric.

Lesson #3: Behavioral Objectives Students Will Be Able To: • Discover that energy from the Sun can be collected and stored in many ways. • Conduct a solar energy experiment and collect data • Design a spreadsheet/line graph on the Microsoft Excel software using data collected

Motivation: • “In yesterday’s lesson, we learned about the many ways the Sun’s energy is used on Earth. The Sun gives us a lot of energy in the form of heat. Some objects and surfaces absorb more heat than others. Today, we are going to conduct an experiment to show us how easy it is to collect and store energy from the Sun. Do you think all objects absorb energy?”

Experiment: How do we collect and store Solar Energy on Earth? We conducted a simple experiment to see if the Sun's energy influences the temperature of the Earth. This experiment will help illustrate how easy it is to collect and store solar energy.

Materials needed for experiment: • 2 aluminum soda cans • Thermometers • Paint ( Black & White)& Brushes • Water • Note Pad& Pencil • Microsoft Excel

And the most Important Material of all….. Solar Energy from the Sun!!!!

Procedure: (Day 1) • Step 1: Paint one can white and the other black, including the top of the can. Leave them until the paint is dry. • Step 2: Fill both cans with tap water until they are about 1 cm (half an inch) from the top. Place a thermometer into each can. • Step 3: After about 30 seconds, record the temperature of both cans as time zero. Then place both cans in the Sun and record the temperature every 15 minutes(90 minutes worth of data should be a sufficient amount of time).

Procedure: (Day 2)Procedure: (Day 2) What Happens Now? • Students will have two sets of temperature results ( 90 minutes worth of data). The black can will have absorbed more heat than the white one and so the temperature in that can should rise more quickly than in the white can. • Students will take the data they collected and make a spreadsheet. • Lastly, after data has been entered into spreadsheet, students will create a line graph.

Sample of Student’s Work: Line Graph

Homework/Extension For homework, have students write reflections in their journals discussing what they learned from today’s experiment. They should be able to explain that the earth’s surfaces absorb or take in heat energy from the sun and that different surfaces absorb different amounts of heat.

Students Analysis: • By conducting this science experiment, we learned that temperatures of objects and surfaces on earth are influenced by the suns heat. Darker objects such as the color black can absorb more of the sun’s heat than lighter objects. As you can see from the data collected, the black can temperatures were higher than the white can temperatures. The highest temperature for the black can was 103 ºF and highest temperature for the white can was 84 ºF. The reason for this is because the black collected more of the Sun’s heat.

Assessment: • Students will be assessed on brainstorming activity, solar energy experiment, Spreadsheet/ Line Graph Presentations, and on their analysis of line graph and data statistics. Rubric scale 1-3

Lesson #6: Behavioral Objectives: Students will be able to: • Take part in a scavenger hunt to answer a given set of questions • Work together in a partnership to complete a task • Reflect on an the efficiency of a given assignment and their work within it • Discuss how they arrived at their answers and justify their choosing of them

Motivation: • “Good morning boys and girls! Throughout this science unit we have been learning all about the Sun and the energy that we get from it. Today we are going to activate all of the interesting information that we have learned and we are going to go on a Solar Energy Scavenger Hunt! Does anyone know what a Scavenger Hunt is?”

Procedure: 1) Conduct a read aloud of Scavenger Hunt. 2) Go over the concept of a Scavenger Hunt with students. 3) Group the class into pairs and assign a computer to each pair. On the Smart Board, have the following web address written: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/huntenergyand.html This is the site for the scavenger hunt which the students will need. 4) Instruct the students to go to each of the sites listed in the resources order to find the answers for questions 1-10 5) At the half-way mark, make an announcement that the students have 30 minutes to complete their assignment.

Procedure: Continued 6) At the conclusion of the 60 minutes, instruct students to cease working. 7) Review the questions from the Hunt. After posing the question, call on a student to give the answer. Ask the partnership to come to the Smart Board and show how and where they found that answer. 8) Ask students to shut down their computers and take out their notebooks. Give them questions to answer. 9) Walk around and glance at the students’ work.

Assessment: • Assessment will take place throughout the lesson. Watch how the students work with one another within the partnerships. Take note of the students’ computer skills as well as how they are answering the given questions. The follow-up questions are also a means of assessing their thoughts on how beneficial scavenger hunts are to learning.

Filamentality Website The Filamentality website was created as a resource for students on the Sun and its energy. The site includes links to other websites, videos, games, and hands-on activities. Essentially, students would use these resources to supplement and further their learning about the Sun and its energy. http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listenergyand.html

Other Educational Videos for Kids: • YouTube - Photosynthesis song ! • YouTube - Solar Energy • YouTube - Solar Energy • YouTube - Bill Nye The Science Guy on The Sun (Full Clip) • DragonflyTV . Episodes . Technology and Invention . Solar Car | PBS KIDS GO!

Energy in Earth’s Systems MST Inquiry Unit plan