curriculum comparison continues...

curriculum comparison continues….

November 28th, 2007 by ckennedy

Here’s my results from the second six weeks curriculum comparison:

TEK objectives 9 BC
obtaining, transforming, and distributing energy

IS: ???mentions energy transformations in a telecast and discuss using solar panels to power cars in another

C-Scope: Explore your World Share-A-Thon and Tonight in the News

PH: Cooking with Sunshine lab

C-Scope had the students research a renewable energy source and create a poster discussing that topic. The second portion was to have the kids share their findings in a news show format. I have never been a big fan of posters, it is painful (for me) to try and get everyone to bring one in and then I have to decide what kind of grade to give based on the kid’s portion of the work. I think the tonight in the news sounds like it could be interesting with the proper class. I don’t see it faring well with my classes.

The Prentice Hall book had a lab in which students built a solar oven and then used the oven to toast marshmallows. This doesn’t sound bad, but is limited only to solar energy. The text of the book did have a pretty good section discussing each of the renewable energy sources.

I used neither of the activities mentioned above. I did show the few minutes of an inventor with his solar powered call video. I did discuss the forms of energy the way they were described in the textbook. I had the kids complete a webquest that I have modified to suit me over the years. The kids were given a renewable resource topic and then did internet research according to the guidelines that I had given them.

TEK objectives 8B,C
Energy

IS: Owl Pellets, ??

C-Scope: Owl Pellets compost column

PH: pictures of and discussion of food web and compost bin

IS: had a four minute video clip of the barn owl with instructions on how to dissect the pellet. There was nothing that I could find about compost bins/piles

C-Scope: called for owl pellet dissection and creation of a compost column from two liter bottles.

PH: had pictures of and a discussion of food webs and compost bins

The owl pellets are an excellent lab and help to show how energy moves through different organisms. This is one of my (and I think the kid’s) favorite labs. We also constructed a food web to show flow of energy.

We discussed compost bins/piles. Last year I watched a demonstration of the compost column and it didn’t work properly. I used temperature probes and laptops to demonstrate it with my classes and it didn’t work well. The construction involves cutting of the bottles with a razor blade, I don’t think this is a good idea for 6^th graders to use. Implementation on a “per group” basis would require a great number of thermometers and storage space over a period of days. I’m not totally discarding the idea, just trying to figure out how to make it work.