Andrea T. Bailey
Leaf Relay
Grade Level: Grades 3-5
Subject: Science
Duration: 45 minutes
Description: Energy moves through food chains.
Goal: Learn how energy is "lost" when transferred from one system to another.
Objectives:
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Students will create a food chain
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Students will apply new knowledge
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Students will generate ideas and questions for further investigations
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Students will discover new concepts
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Materials:
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Enough dry leaves for each group for five to have an armful
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An open flat area
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Chalk board or writing area for teacher
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Procedure:
1. Introduce the students to a simple food chain by putting an example on the board. Example: sun-grass-sheep; explain that the sun provides energy for the grass to grow and the grass provides energy (food) for the sheep.
2. Discuss the following points:
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The sun gives off energy that is used by the plants.
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However, the plants do not use all of the energy the sun produces
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Animals eat plants to get energy.
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However, not all of the energy that was captured by the plant is still in the plant since it had to use some for its own growth and reproduction.
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With each transfer of energy, some is "lost" to the process of staying alive.
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3. Place the pile of leaves at one end of the area in a pile. Form five teams of five students.
4. Have each team line up in a parallel line, with 2 to 3 feet separating each person, and several yards separating each group. The teams should be lined up 100 yards away from the "energy pile."
5. Assign one of the following roles to each student: The first person in line will be the sun; the second a plant; the third a herbivore; fourth a carnivore; and fifth a human.
6. Have each player, except the sun, mark their spot. Have the suns stand behind the "energy pile" facing the group.
7. Explain that the sun provides the energy needed in each of the food chains. Have the suns scoop up as many leaves as they can hold in their arms.
8. At the "go" signal, the suns race to the plants who (gently) grab as much of the suns' energy as they can.
9. The plants turn and move without running, and the herbivores race up to grab as much energy as they can hold. The herbivores return to their spot. As soon as then herbivores come back to their spots, the carnivores run up and capture the energy from the herbivores. Continue with the humans. When the humans return to their spot, have them raise the remaining energy source above their heads to show that they are finished.
10. Look on the ground. What happened to the energy during the transport and transfer? Compare the amount held by the first person and the last person. If there were fewer transfers, how much energy would the last person have? How could we make fewer transfers in our lives?
11. Introduce environmental disasters like pesticides, floods, or oil spills at one stage. Have the students drop half their energy supply. This represents the damage and lessens the energy taken or transferred. Discuss the effects of having less energy for the food chain and problems that may arise.
Assessment:
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Teacher generated questions
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Participation
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Construction of their own food chain
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Generating Electricity
Grade Level: Grades 3-5
Subject: Science and Math
Duration: 45 minutes to an hour
Description: To understand the importance of renewable energy, and how electricity is made.
Goal: To understand that, in order to make electricity, something has to turn a turbine.
Objectives:
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Students will understand the importance of renewable energy.
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Students will construct a turbine.
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Students will apply new knowledge.
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Students will generate ideas and questions for further investigations.
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Students will discover new concepts.
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Materials: (are needed for each group of students)
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100 cm of bare copper wire
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Magnetic bar
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Electric meter
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Paper towel roll
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Student sheet
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Background Knowledge: (highlights words should be placed on the board)
Most electricity is commercially produced using large generators. The generator has two parts: the armature, which is a large coil wire, and magnets, which are usually electromagnets. By moving the coil of wire through the field of magnetic, current, or a flow of electrons, is made in the wire.
It does not matter whether the coil of wire moves through the magnetic field or whether the magnetic field moves over the wire. The current is always produced in the wire.
As you can see, something has to turn the coil or the magnet. Tell the students that without energy to do the turning, no electricity can be made. In an electric generating plant, that energy usually comes from a large windmill-type machine called a turbine. The turbine has many blades attached to it (the shaft). The turbine usually is spun by steam produced by a hot boiler. The steam is produced by burning fossil fuels. Running water (hydropower) and wind can also be used to spin the turbine.
Procedure:
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1. Break students into groups of 2 or 3.
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2. As students work through the activity, introduce the idea that an electric current is a flow of electrons. A magnet can pull tacks or nails, and it can also pull electrons.
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3. Ask the students "Do you think it makes any difference if we move the magnet different directions?" Have them try it.
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4. Ask the students "Are there any other things you can think of that might change the amount of current produced?"
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5. Once the students have completed the task ask the students to construct a turbine generator using some form of renewable energy (wind or water) to do the turning. (You can use the following resources to help guide the students. Tesco Greener living everyday tesco.com/greenerliving/kids) (5).
Assessment
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Teacher generated questions
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Participation
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Student sheets
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Constructing a turbine
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How Can You Measure Wind Energy?
Grade Level: Grade 3-5
Subject: Science
Duration: 45 minutes
Description: Making a simple anemometer and measure the wind energy around your school.
Goal: Construct an anemometer and measure wind.
Objectives:
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Students will figure out ways to measure wind.
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Students will compare and contrast places that have wind.
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Students will construct an anemometer.
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Students will measure the amount of wind in different locations of their school.
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Materials:
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Pencil with an eraser
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Pin or paper clips
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Soda straws (each student gets two)
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Stapler
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Scissors
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Cone pattern (Each student gets four circles. Students can make their own circle patterns all four being the same size. Tracing around tape rolls can give the a template.)
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Paper
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Tape
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Red Crayons
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Bottle with narrow neck
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Stopwatches or clock with second hand
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Background Information:
Some places have a lot of wind and others don't. For example, places that are higher or more open usually have stronger winds. Before you bought or built a windmill, you would want to be sure that you location had enough wind. But how can you measure the wind? An anemometer is used to measure wind energy. You sometimes see them at airports. (Showing a picture may help them make a connection). You are going to make a simple anemometer and measure the wind energy around your school.
Procedure:
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1. Staple 2 straws so they make an X.
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2. Color one cone pattern red. Students can use the pattern given to them or make bigger cones.
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3. Staple one cone pattern to each straw end, so they all face the same way.
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4. Curve each pattern to form a cone shape.
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5. Pin the center of the X to the pencil eraser. Students can also straighten one side of a paper clip and fasten the straws with the paper clip.
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6. Insert the pencil in the narrow neck bottle, so that you can hold the bottle and the anemometer will spin freely. If you do not have a bottle, students can just hold the straws.
Assessment:
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Teacher generated questions
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Participation
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Constructing an anemometer
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