Description of Activities and Timeline
Unit Time frame
The unit is designed to be taught at or near the beginning of the school year (within the first month) and last for two weeks.
Preparation: The Environment
To aid the collaborative environment, student desks will be rearranged into groupings of four desks. After introduced, the driving question will be posted permanently (duration of the unit) on the board and referenced every day.
Preparation: Students
During the first day, students will be prepared to work in groups of four with a brief discussion of the roles required in a group (facilitator, reader, recorder, reflector, technician, and encourager). Description of these roles can be found at: https://pogil.org/uploads/media_items/descriptions-of-roles-expanded.original.pdf
Following that, students engage in a small group project research and present basic information about types of energy; this provides them the opportunity to practice one or more of the roles.
Reference:
POGIL Project (n.d.). Description of Roles. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from https://pogil.org/uploads/media_items/descriptions-of-roles-expanded.original.pdf
Potential Student Investigations
Students will have the opportunity to investigate several areas of energy sources:
1. Solar
2. Mechanical
3. Thermal/Geothermal
4. Chemical
5. Nuclear
6. Electrical
7. Nanomedicine
Students will, early on, generate ideas and/or questions about the sources of their energy, which will then be grouped into the above categories. Student groups will investigate basic information about each category of energy, then, after sharing with the class, groups will choose one form of energy to investigate in detail.
Students will need to collect data about their own energy use at home (e.g., electric and gas bills), as well as information on how each energy type is generated and its efficiency. They will need to determine where U.S. energy comes from (physically speaking--how much is generated in Canada or Mexico, for example, or how much the U.S. sends to other countries). Students will then use researched knowledge of advances and potential advances in those areas to support their claim for how nanotechnology will impact U.S. energy independence.
Student Ownership
Students will have voice in the work from the beginning. On the first day will be a teacher-moderated discussion of energy types. The discussion will be sparked by a brief group-pair-share activity where students brainstorm. In groups, they will then generate some questions about what they need to know with regard to a particular kind of energy and investigate them. After sharing the results of their basic research with the class, groups will later choose what area of energy they would like to investigate further with particular emphasis on nanoscience enhancements.
Students will have other opportunities to choose activities. For example, they will choose between two options to investigate surface area to volume ratios.
Student Engagement
The activities in this unit will encourage student engagement in several ways. When students have the opportunity to learn by doing as opposed to reading a book or listening to a lecture, they are usually more interested in the material. The list of activities for the students to partake in with this unit require very little direct instruction. The direct instruction tends to bore students.
The students will also have the opportunity to showcase their expertise in creating something using technology. There are a good number of students who enjoy using technology and will take it to the furthest potential possible. The others can still showcase their material in a fashion they enjoy. This makes engagement much better when the students can take ownership of their projects.
The unit is designed to be taught at or near the beginning of the school year (within the first month) and last for two weeks.
Preparation: The Environment
To aid the collaborative environment, student desks will be rearranged into groupings of four desks. After introduced, the driving question will be posted permanently (duration of the unit) on the board and referenced every day.
Preparation: Students
During the first day, students will be prepared to work in groups of four with a brief discussion of the roles required in a group (facilitator, reader, recorder, reflector, technician, and encourager). Description of these roles can be found at: https://pogil.org/uploads/media_items/descriptions-of-roles-expanded.original.pdf
Following that, students engage in a small group project research and present basic information about types of energy; this provides them the opportunity to practice one or more of the roles.
Reference:
POGIL Project (n.d.). Description of Roles. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from https://pogil.org/uploads/media_items/descriptions-of-roles-expanded.original.pdf
Potential Student Investigations
Students will have the opportunity to investigate several areas of energy sources:
1. Solar
2. Mechanical
3. Thermal/Geothermal
4. Chemical
5. Nuclear
6. Electrical
7. Nanomedicine
Students will, early on, generate ideas and/or questions about the sources of their energy, which will then be grouped into the above categories. Student groups will investigate basic information about each category of energy, then, after sharing with the class, groups will choose one form of energy to investigate in detail.
Students will need to collect data about their own energy use at home (e.g., electric and gas bills), as well as information on how each energy type is generated and its efficiency. They will need to determine where U.S. energy comes from (physically speaking--how much is generated in Canada or Mexico, for example, or how much the U.S. sends to other countries). Students will then use researched knowledge of advances and potential advances in those areas to support their claim for how nanotechnology will impact U.S. energy independence.
Student Ownership
Students will have voice in the work from the beginning. On the first day will be a teacher-moderated discussion of energy types. The discussion will be sparked by a brief group-pair-share activity where students brainstorm. In groups, they will then generate some questions about what they need to know with regard to a particular kind of energy and investigate them. After sharing the results of their basic research with the class, groups will later choose what area of energy they would like to investigate further with particular emphasis on nanoscience enhancements.
Students will have other opportunities to choose activities. For example, they will choose between two options to investigate surface area to volume ratios.
Student Engagement
The activities in this unit will encourage student engagement in several ways. When students have the opportunity to learn by doing as opposed to reading a book or listening to a lecture, they are usually more interested in the material. The list of activities for the students to partake in with this unit require very little direct instruction. The direct instruction tends to bore students.
The students will also have the opportunity to showcase their expertise in creating something using technology. There are a good number of students who enjoy using technology and will take it to the furthest potential possible. The others can still showcase their material in a fashion they enjoy. This makes engagement much better when the students can take ownership of their projects.