Teaching Energy Awareness to the Elementary Age Child

摘要

This final report describes a 3-week workshop for elementary school teachers that had three components: (1) a review of the basic physical principles governing energy and its use; (2) an introduction to the many available teacher resources concerning energy; and (3) a one-week practicum where the teacher participants were able to field-test some of the materials they developed with elementary-age children. Lectures and demonstrations covered such basic topics as mechanics, heat, electricity, energy resources and uses. Teachers were provided with a wide variety of free or inexpensive printed materials and classroom resources. Some of these resources served as the basis for the construction of lesson plans or student activities. Audio-visual resources were previewed and evaluated. Participants performed several experiments and constructed many learning activities for use with elementary children. Field trips to solar and underground homes, to surface and deep coal mines, and to a hydro electric plant gave participants first-hand energy experiences. During the final week of the workshop, teachers participated in a practicum experience with sixty children enrolled in a special Energy Week program sponsored by The College of Education and The Alabama Museum. Four classrooms of fifteen children each were taught by teams of teachers who planned lessons, activities and field trips appropriate for the age of the children. The twenty-four participants are teachers in grades K-6 and represented school systems from across Alabama. They developed plans for teaching energy in their classroom. A final meeting on January 22, 1983 will provide an opportunity for participants to share their teaching experiences. (ERA citation 10:000857)