The Plan:
Energy is a new topic in my teaching curriculum this year. As a matter of fact, I have never had to teach this topic! So coming up with a plan that was engaging and learning the information well enough for me to teach became somewhat daunting. But with the help of a great curriculum coach and a fabulous lead science teacher, we came up a good plan.
- Our class studied information about renewable vs nonrenewable energy sources.
- We created a basic foldable which included definitions and examples.
- Our next step was to research various sources of energy. I found a fabulous website that had printable information sheets. So I printed them on colored paper and had them laminated so I could use them for years to come.
- Because there were so many sources to cover, I decided to use cooperative group strategies to get the goal covered.
- I ended up with about 10 groups for the 10 sources. Each group had to research their energy source, create an informative mini-poster and present their information to the class.
- Now I am fully aware that middle school kids have difficulty paying attention to one lesson per day. So I knew that 10 lessons would be ridiculous. So after all the presentations were complete, I taped the posters all around the room and had the students to complete a silent gallery walk. This way, any information they students missed during the presentations could be gained by reading the posters.
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Resources:
The NEED Project~ http://www.need.org/
- This is an amazing resource! The information booklets provided so much more than any textbook ever could. All of the information can be downloaded by levels such as primary, elementary, intermediate and secondary. There are many lesson plans and activities too!
YouTube video on energy~ http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=8rrgpGo1Fw8
- SchoolHouse Rock! Science video on Energy! Loved this when I was a kid.
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4 comments:
This is very similar to what I do with my 5th graders. Last year, instead of posters, I had each group create a PowerPoint on their source. While groups were presenting, the rest of the class had guided notes to fill in. It took a couple of class periods to complete the presentations, but the kids enjoyed the project and were very proud of their slide presentation.
Thank you for sharing your ideas! I love the use of guided notes during presentations. I will definitely use that idea soon!
Hi!
I was wondering if you would post your project requirements for the posters or email me them? I would love to have my students do this!
What were the categories you had them report on? How it is obtained? Transformed? Advantages and disadvantage? anything else?
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