Energy Basics
Sarah Stevens, CLK Elementary School
[email protected]
Target Grade: Kindergarten
Subjects: Science and ELA
Unit Overview
This unit is intended to help students understand what energy is, where it comes
from, and how it affects our everyday lives. My goal is for students to become
more aware of their energy consumption and learn to conserve energy. I want
them to learn specific ways they can save energy at school and at home. I want
them to understand that their personal choices and actions have a great impact on
the environment. It is also my goal for them to understand what it means to
reduce, reuse, and recycle and to take interest in doing these important things.
Sources Consulted
Asch, Frank. The Earth and I. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (1994).
Education Programs Office at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Fun
With the Sun Teacher’s Activity Guide for Elementary Grades K-2. 28 July 2010
<http://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30928.pdf>.
Elementary Energy Infobook: What is Energy? 28 July 2010
<http://www.need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/ElemInfo/IntroE.pdf>.
Inches, Alison. I Can Save the Earth! Simon and Schuster, (2008).
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
¾ identify what energy is by making a collage of pictures that represent
energy.
1 ¾ identify where energy comes from by completing the “Fun with the Sun”
activity.
¾ help the environment by completing the task of the picture they drew.
¾ Give examples of ways to conserve energy and recycle
Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations Addressed
Science
Science inquiry process skills
Inquiry Analysis and Communication
K-7 Standard S.IA: Develop an understanding that scientific inquiry and
investigations require analysis and communication of findings, using
appropriate technology.
S.IA.E.1 Inquiry includes an analysis and presentation of findings
that lead to future questions, research, and investigations.
S.IA.00.12 Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation.
S.IA.00.13 Communicate and present findings of observations.
English Language Arts
¾ The following reading GLCE’s relate to the stories about the Earth that the
children will listen to and answer questions about.
Reading
Narrative Text
Students will…
R.NT.00.03 discuss setting, characters, and events in narrative text.
R.NT.00.05 respond to individual and multiple texts by finding evidence, discussing,
illustrating, and/or writing to reflect, make meaning, and make connections.
¾
The following reading GLCE’s also relate to the stories about the Earth that
the children will listen to answer questions about. I will be asking them to
make connections throughout the stories. I will also ask them to apply what
2 they’ve learned from the stories by drawing a picture of something they can
do to help the Earth.
Comprehension
Students will…
R.CM.00.01 begin to make text-to-self and text-to-text connections and comparisons
by activating prior knowledge and connecting personal knowledge and experience to
ideas in text through oral and written responses.
R.CM.00.04 apply significant knowledge from grade-level science, social studies, and
mathematics texts.
Discourse
Students will…
S.DS.00.03 respond to multiple text types by reflecting, making meaning, and making
connections.
¾
The following listening and viewing GLCE’s relate to all the lessons in this
unit.
L I S T E N I N G Conventions
& V I E W I N G Students will…
L.CN.00.01 understand and follow one- and two-step directions.
L.CN.00.03 listen to or view knowledgeably while demonstrating appropriate social
skills of audience behaviors (e.g., eye contact, attentive, supportive) in small and large
group settings; listen to each other, interact, and respond appropriately.
Response
Students will…
L.RP.00.03 respond to multiple text types listened to or viewed knowledgeably, by
discussing, drawing, and/or writing in order to reflect, make meaning, and make
connections.
Classroom or field activities
Day 1
3 Introduce the topic of energy by doing a KWL chart. This is a great way to get an
idea of the students’ prior knowledge and it will help determine what instructions
you give throughout the unit. On the board, make 3 large columns with the
letters K, W, and L (one in each column). “K” stands for what the children
already know regarding energy. “W” stands for what they want to know. “L”
stands for what they have learned after doing a specific activity or lesson. Begin
the lesson by asking, “What is energy?” During this time, you’re only filling in the
“know” column. Then ask, “Where does energy come from?” After asking these
questions, and you may have more, finish filling in the “know” column.
Once you’ve had good discussion and you’re finished with the “know” column,
move on to the “want to know” column. Simply ask, “What would you like to
know/learn about energy?” Children should have a lot of questions, which you’ll
record under the “W” column. Do not answer the questions until the end of the
lesson. The point of the questions is to get them engaged in the topic and then
their questions should be answered throughout the following activity. At the end
of the activity, you’ll be going back to the chart to answer all questions and fill in
the “L” column as they tell what they’ve learned.
Share the article titled, “What is Energy?” with the kids. Go through the article
and show them the pictures on an overhead projector. It may also be helpful to
bring in objects that represent energy like a lightbulb, blanket, car, boat, plant,
etc.
After discussing the article, go back to complete the KWL chart. Remember, you
need to fill in the last column, which is what the students learned about energy.
After that, go back and answer all questions from the “W” column, as well as any
other questions they may have.
Day 2
Review what we learned about energy from the previous day. You may want to go
back to the KWL chart and emphasize key points. It may be helpful to explain to
4 them that our bodies use energy too, just in a little different way. The concept is
the same though.
Discuss things in our homes and at school that use energy. See if they can give
examples and make a list together. They might say things like: TV, computer,
lights, toilet, radio, dishwasher, water, phone, refrigerator, stove, car, and dryer.
Put out a variety of magazines, construction paper, and glue and ask the children
to make an energy collage. They should cut out pictures of things that represent
energy. Tell them to use their imagination and try to think of anything that
comes to mind when they hear the word “energy.”
When everyone is done, ask the children to show their collage to a classmate. You
may want to pair up students or let them choose a partner.
Later on, come together as a whole group to discuss the collages. Ask for
volunteers to share theirs with the class. You may want to show your collage first,
explaining the pictures you chose and why you chose them.
Day 3
Now that they have a good idea of what energy is, today’s focus will be, “Where
does energy come from?”
Begin the activity called “Fun with the Sun.” This activity is adapted from the
following website (http://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30928.pdf). To get students involved
and excited, begin the activity with a high-energy song or dance, such as “Johnny
Works with One Hammer” or the “Bunny Hop.” Explain to them that they are
using up energy when they sing and dance. Then draw a sun on the board. Explain that the sun is a primary source of energy
in many ways. Write the word “energy” in it and ask, “What kinds of energy do
we get from the sun?”
5 Write down all responses on the board. It’s important to accept all reasonable
examples of energy. The point is for the children to see that the sun is the
primary source for a lot of different things, such as food, wood, coal, oil, gas, light,
plants, trees, heat, and wind. You will need to explain the connection between the
examples they give and the sun.
Tell the children they’re going to make suns and then show them an already-made
model of one (a circle with 8 beams attached). Give the children yellow paper and
tell them to cut out a circle for a sun. Then ask them to cut out 8 thick strips of
yellow paper for the sunbeams. Or, you may want to have these cut out ahead of
time so that they’re the appropriate size for the children to write words on them.
Once everyone is done cutting their sun and beams, show them the next step. Tell
them to write one energy word from the board on each sunbeam. Then show
them what you mean. They will write 8 words for 8 sunbeams. Remind them not
to write too close to the edge of the paper because the sunbeams will be glued onto
the suns later. When they’re done writing, they may glue the beams to their sun.
They’ll need help with this, so that their words don’t get covered by the glue.
As the children are finishing, go around the room with a holepunch and string.
Punch a small hole in the sun and attach a piece of string. Hang the suns from
the ceiling or on a bulletin board. Or, kids can wear them as necklaces.
When everyone is done creating their sun, sit in a circle for review and share time.
Ask the children to show their suns to the class and explain what they learned
about energy. Tell them to pay attention to how everyone’s are the same and
different. Ask questions along the way such as, “How would your energy examples
be different if we had no sun or two suns?” or “Would it be different if the sun
was closer or farther away?” Make sure to emphasize that a lot of our energy
comes from the sun.
Day 4
6 Discuss how important it is that we pay attention to how much energy we’re using
and what’s good for the environment. Explain how our choices today are going to
affect the future and that we can make a difference. There are many things we
can do to help the environment.
Read the story, I Can Save the Earth!, by Alison Inches. This book is about a little
green monster that does not conserve energy or recycle. Throughout the book, he
learns about the importance of helping the environment by simply reducing,
reusing, and recycling. He comes to understand that his actions do affect the
environment and even himself.
After the story, ask the children what the lesson is. What did the little green
monster learn? What can we do to help our environment? Make sure the children
understand what it means to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Ask them to give specific
examples of how they already do this or what they could do to contribute to
helping the environment.
Brainstorm and discuss simple ways to conserve energy, such as turning off the
lights when you’re not using them. Do not leave the water running if you don’t
need to (when you’re washing your hands, brushing your teeth, washing/rinsing
dishes, etc.) Turn off the TV, computer, and radio when you’re not using them.
The children may have many other ideas as well.
Day 5
Review what we learned yesterday from the story. Emphasize that the choices we
make today affect our resources available for tomorrow.
Read the story, The Earth and I, by Frank Asch. This book is about a young boy
and his friendship with the Earth. It tells how they benefit each other. For
example, they help each other grow. The boy tills the soil and eventually eats food
that grows from the soil. The message is that the boy and the Earth affect each
other in a big way.
7 After the story, ask the children what the lesson is. What did the young boy learn
about the Earth? Do our actions affect the Earth? How can we help make the
Earth a better place? You may have already discussed several examples yesterday.
This is another review.
Tell children to think of one or more ways that they want to help the environment
by conserving energy or reducing, reusing, or recycling. Brainstorm some ways
together. Then ask them to draw a picture of at least one way. If they’re having
trouble, tell them to think back to the two stories that we read and the examples
we shared while brainstorming.
When they’re done with their pictures, do Show and Tell. Ask them to show their
picture and explain what is happening in the picture.
At the end of the day, encourage them to hang up their drawing at home as a
reminder to do what is done in the picture. This is their “home fun” assignment.
Encourage them to involve other family members to help the environment as well.
They should teach their mom, dad, brother, or sister what they learned and they
can do the task in the picture together.
Unit Assessments
In kindergarten, the only time we assess for grades is when preparing for report
cards. Most activities and assignments are exploratory and are done as a whole
group. A lot of assessing is purely teacher observations and asking questions to
check for understanding. Our daily goal is that children follow directions and
participate by completing the task they were asked to do. If they get something
wrong, we just review the concept and try again together. They’re taught to raise
their hand and ask questions if they don’t understand something.
The following assessments are embedded throughout the unit. Each one is
explained on the day that it’s introduced.
¾ KWL chart about energy
¾ Energy collage
8 ¾ “Fun with the Sun” activity
¾ Circle time (reviewing and sharing)
¾ Drawing of helping the environment
¾ Home fun assignment (that goes with drawing)
¾ Show and Tell
¾ Checking for comprehension by asking questions during storytime
¾ Teacher observations throughout the unit
¾ Asking the children questions throughout the unit (verbal participation)
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