Matthew P. Bachand
Lesson Plan One: How much coal do I use?
Rationale:
In order to touch an empathetic nerve in students, we will begin our lessons on the generation of electricity from their perspective--that of the consumer--and work backwards from there. This should help shorten the distance between the student and the coal miner. .
Objective:
Students will calculate how much coal usage they would be responsible for if they received their electrical power from a coal-fired plant by using mathematics and deductive thinking skills.
Background:
Because over half of the electricity in the United States is provided by coal-fired power plants, we will assume for the sake of argument that coal is supplying the electricity for our class. It is estimated that it takes 714 pounds of coal to power one 100 watt light bulb for 1 year (24hours a day)25. Students will use a fact sheet provided by the West Virginia Coal Fact Book about coal usage (see appendix for source) to figure out how much coal they use for several common activities during the course of a week, a month, and a year.
Procedure:
Students will follow a series of steps that will result in a complex and complete mathematical table that details the coal consumption of both themselves and a series of groups of students.
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- Students will read a fact sheet from the West Virginia Coal Fact book, and choose facts about the consumption of coal by using common household items (light bulbs, computers, televisions) from a list.
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- Students will then use a handout that shows them how to calculate ratios (which should be reviewed) to calculate how much coal they would be responsible for. For example, if the statement reads “It takes one pound of coal to burn one light bulb for 10 hours), students will estimate the number of hours in a day that they burn light bulbs, and the number of light bulbs, then calculate the number of pounds of coal.
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- After calculating the amount of coal that students use per day for these activities, then students will continue to carry out the calculations for weeks, months, and years and enter their answers on a spreadsheet (either paper or computerized, depending on time and availability).
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- Students will try and calculate how much coal is consumed by groups of students, calculating more complex extrapolations such as the number of pounds of coal consumed by male students in the class as compared to female, the total number of pounds, etc.
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- At the end of our calculations, the teacher will read to the students a passage from “Coalcracker Culture” that explains that each miner in a mine used to be responsible for a certain tonnage of coal per day. We will calculate how many students that miner provides coal for in a given day.
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- Finally, students will write a journal entry that answers the question: Imagine that you are a coal miner. How would you feel about the fact that you provide coal so that others can have electricity?
Assessment:
Teacher will read journal entries and assess them informally for their thoughtfulness and reflection on the ideas discussed while formulating the spreadsheets; spreadsheets will be checked for accuracy and completion.
Lesson Plan Two: How do we make coal useful?
Rationale:
In order to understand what a complex task it is to provide students with the energy they need to fulfill their own personal needs, students will devote considerable time to researching and creating a presentation about our contemporary uses for coal.
Objective:
Students will, by the end of the lesson, explain to their classmates’ one of a series of procedures that coal goes through before it becomes electrical energy through the use of a group presentation.
Procedure:
Students will be tasked with explaining a process (or series of processes) that are related to the production, transportation, use, and environmental control over coal. Students will be placed in groups and given the task of creating a presentation that answers one of the following questions:
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- How is coal created?
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- How is coal mined from the earth?
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- How is coal turned into electricity?
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- How has coal burning become more efficient over time?
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- How does coal mining affect the environment?
Students will be given a list of websites and paper reference materials (all of which are listed in the resource list below) to use in order to explain a predetermined (by the teacher) process to their classmates. Groups will be four to six students in size, with each student responsible for preparing and presenting a different element of the presentation.
In addition to explaining the essential elements of the process at hand (who, what, where, when, why, and how), students will also be required to answer the following questions:
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- What aspect of the process you are describing is the most difficult on the people involved?
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- How has the process you described changed over time? What motivated the change?
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- What challenges do those who must perform this task face at the present time (Political, economic, scarcity concerns)?
Assessment:
Students will be assessed according to a checklist and a rubric. The checklist will be used to determine whether or not each of the questions posed to the students were answered, and a grade based on depth and understanding will also be assigned. A process rubric will be used to determine how well students used the time assigned for the project’s completion.
Lesson Plan Three:
Objective:
Students will know how to persuade an individual to adopt a position by writing a letter to a senator asking them to pass a bill for a Coal Miner’s Stamp to be printed.
Rationale:
If students can effectively argue for the printing of a coal miner’s stamp, then they will have to be both compelling and knowledgeable about coal miner’s sacrifices for their country and the coal miner’s attitudes and beliefs. If a student can do this, then she has gained an affective appreciation of the life of a coal miner while also synthesizing information about coal miners in a useful manner. This is a culminating activity to be done after completion of other unit activities.
Procedure:
Students will have a series of steps to complete that will result in a letter that, provided the stamp measure has not already passed, will be mailed to their senators.
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- Students will brainstorm a list of accomplishments for which coal miners should be honored.
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- Students will formulate emotional appeals to their senator that help convince him or her to endorse the plan for the stamp.
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- Students will follow a writing process including drafting, editing, and revising to write a letter to their senator.
Assessment:
Student work will be assessed on an analytical rubric for persuasive letter writing that includes qualifications for following the proper letter form.