Day 1
Pre-Knowledge Survey
Entry Event (video clips) Video clip(s): Video 1: Fuel Scarcity Video 2: Biofuels (optional) Video 3: Using biomass Efficiently (optional) The Driving Question KWL activity |
Day 2Candle Lab Instructions & Student Sheet
Design Lab Procedure Collect Data Discussion over Labs Exit ticket (See Assessment page for more info) |
Day 3Finish getting data
Graph data Analyze Data - (Due Day 4) Write Conclusion - (Due Day 4) Present findings (each group will describe what they did and go over their findings) Turn in Lab Report (written by students grading rubric here) Q&A and feedback after each group Exit ticket |
Day 4Bell Ringer - Where is carbon found?
5 minute discussion on students' background knowledge Carbon Crisis WebSearch (optional) Group work - Answer guiding questions; students will be researching; Formative questioning 5 minute discussion- Is there a crisis involving carbon? Why? Exit ticket |
Day 5Bell Ringer - How are carbon emissions affecting our environment?
5 minute discussion Carbon Crisis WebSearch Group Presentations Group presentations students asking questions Formative questions 5 minute discussion - What do you think is the future of this carbon crisis? Exit ticket |
Day 6Carbon Crisis WebSearch Finish
Gallery Walk With Posters Carbon Cycle Lab Group presentations Students asking questions Gallery walk Summative - Carbon Crisis Rubric Exit ticket |
Day 7Bell Ringer - What is the biggest source of output of carbon into the atmosphere?
5 minute discussion Carbon Cycle Lab (Finish) student conclusions Summative - Carbon Lab Assessment Exit ticket |
Day 8Biodiesel Production Lab (Best if begun on a Thursday and finished on Monday of following week)
Review lab safety and basic chemistry lab techniques Groups produce biodiesel from different new vegetable oils Lab Clean Up Score Exit ticket |
Day 9 |
Day 10Biodiesel Production Lab
Groups test for water soluble impurities and specific gravity Groups share their data with class Groups present their findings through a brief power point Exit ticket |
Day 11 |
Day 12Debate Prep beginning
Students research topic on net books/laptops teacher walks the room offering guidance Small group discussion teacher visits to ensure adequate progress Exit ticket |
Day 13Debate prep continued
Students prepare formal debate speeches (with guidance from debate packet) Small group discussion Teacher visits to ensure adequate progress Exit ticket |
Day 14Debates
Students participate in formal, videotaped debates on the resolution Resolved: that the US can utilize biomass to biofuels as a primary energy source in our lifetime Student questioning "Cross-examination" Exit ticket |
Day 15
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Explanation of activities
The Environment: An ideal space for small group work is: lots of space, with movable desks as well as lab tables that will comfortably seat six students each, if needed. Each of us teaches in a “One-to-One initiative” school, so students will be using their laptops/netbooks extensively. Students will need access to a chemistry lab equipped with proper safety equipment, as per the NSTA document on chemistry lab safety. Students should come into this class knowing something about biomass and biofuels, since it is on the Indiana standards for Biology 1 and all of them should have had that by the time they come to class. A pretest on the subject of biofuels, biomass, and alternative energy sources in general would be appropriate. This unit will best be taught during the latter part of the school year, after students have had a chance to practice some of the higher-order thinking skills presented here, such as collaboration, research, and peer evaluation. It should be a 2-3 week unit. In ICP, Chemistry is taught second semester, and given the nature of this unit, it would be best taught toward the end of that time. This also fits well into the school calendar, because the debate prep, execution, and debriefing can all happen in the week leading up to final exam reviews, and so provide a kind of culminating activity that’s not just another unit test, as they are doing in most of their classes. This unit does require careful planning in terms of time, because some of the activities, like the bio-diesel lab, require several days of “incubation time,” and other activities may be nested in during that time so there is no waste.
Entry Event: Short clip from Mad Max: Road Warrior.. This high interest video will focus students’ attention on future energy needs. It is important to make sure that students realize that this is not a realistic depiction of the near future, but rather a creative way to project what could happen if enough things go wrong. This should be followed by discussion of what students currently know about alternative energy sources, including a comparison of their image of how energy is used worldwide and in the US, as well as in Indiana. A KWL chart helps focus the discussion. The slides from Dr. McCann’s presentation might be very useful here. The two optional videos cited in the timeline could also serve as focusing events that would increase students' knowledge of the factual content. At the end of the period, introduction of the driving question would become the seed for a debriefing session at the beginning of the next period. Link to Mad Max Road Warrior opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hUrcGCQV1g
Activities.
Candle lab. Students will design an experiment to investigate which type of candle burns fastest. The fact that the students create and execute the experiment should give them a sense of ownership. This also allows them to use higher order thinking skills, as they collaborate and create in order to solve a problem on their own. Some prompting from the teacher may be necessary to allow students to succeed in conducting an experiment, but the teacher should also be ready to allow the students to “fail,” in other words, to conduct an experiment with a null outcome. Students should realize that the evaluation grade is more dependent on correct analysis of the experiment than in matching some already established "correct" answer.
Carbon Crisis. (optional) An internet-based activity to allow the students to sharpen their search and research skills, this activity is related to a webquest. It also reinforces the strand of carbon conservation in the content area. Because this is a reinforcement activity, either it or the carbon cycle activity may be omitted if time is a concern.
· Carbon Cycle activity. Students learn through a kinesthetic activity about the importance of carbon conservation, and the consequences of burning fossil fuels without any kind of recovery system. Although this activity is heavily teacher-guided, there is room for post-activity analysis with the students, as they draw conclusions about the implications of carbon sources and sinks.
· Synthesize biodiesel. This will provide a rich experiment to help the students understand how a fuel can be made from other sources. Students will be engaged at the notion of creating their own fuel from household ingredients. In the post-lab discussion, students should be asked to calculate the cost of the fuel they just produced, then compare that to the cost of the amount of fuel they created at the pump. Biodiesel is not the same as the diesel fuel they pump at the gas station, but it can be blended with it. The students should find that it costs much more to produce the fuel they created than the cost at the pump. This should help them draw the conclusion that costs must be controlled and efficiencies must be found if biodiesel is going to be a viable fuel option. This is a qualitative lab, with most of the data in lab being about washing time and clarity of the result after the biodiesel is made, but a more quantitative approach can be made in the post-lab analysis. For instance, the student might measure the biodiesel output, then make an economic comparison of how much that quantity cost to produce with the price of diesel fuel at the pump. Since the pump diesel is higher in energy density, it should cost more, but students will most likely find that their procedure makes the biodiesel much more expensive.
· Calorimetry lab. Using a laboratory calorimeter, students will measure the difference in energy content between different materials by burning them, transferring that energy to a reservoir of water, then measuring the change in temperature of that water. This is a quantitative lab, where students will generate numbers for temperature change, mass, and use a known specific heat to calculate the energy flow. By analyzing that data, students will be able to conclude that petroleum-based fuels contain around 100 times the potential chemical energy of some other simple fuels. Students should be encouraged to think of other materials to try, and as long as safety protocols are observed, allowed to try them out to see what happens. Here is where students will learn the concept of energy density. In the postlab discussion, teachers should also try to introduce the concept of a life cycle assessment, to stress some of the economic difficulties in bringing alternative energy sources to the public.
· Big 4 Whiteboarding. This is where students begin to pull all the information they have been learning over the past two weeks together. The issues of carbon security, energy density, economic feasibility, and technological difficulties should enter into their deliberations. In addition, students may choose to address other issues which have come up during unit discussions, such as effects on hunger and social welfare. Students will address the driving question, and then according to whether they have chosen the affirmative or negative side of the debate, they will work on condensing their argument to four overarching themes, which can be pictured or named on a whiteboard. This will require them reviewing their notes from the previous activities, and possibly beginning to research their position on the driving question, using their netbooks. A circle seminar at the end will preview the information and arguments which may be brought forth during the debate.
· Debate preparation: Using hard scaffolding provided by the teacher and with debate rubric in hand (examples of both at http://nwabr.org/sites/default/files/Debate.pdf) students will work in groups of 4 to prepare a formal debate on the resolution Resolved: that the United States can use biomass to biofuels as a primary energy source within our lifetime. This is the culminating activity, and will allow students to bring in the knowledge they’ve gained about carbon conservation, energy density, economic viability, distribution problems, and technology issues. Students make choices as to which side of the driving question they are on, then prepare a debate brief that supports their position.
· Debates take place. To make this activity more real and meaningful, their debates will be videotaped and put on a Youtube private channel for judging by either other students who have done this unit, or by experts who agree to volunteer their time. Periodically over the next several days, students will revisit the debate topic to see if their attitudes have changed, and to try to discuss the judges’ comments. Students will have more autonomy than is usual in a traditional classroom. Within the structures of a teacher’s personal guidelines, students will be able to choose groupings, design and run their own experiment, and research and answer a question that is important to adults outside of the classroom.
The debate will need lots of hard scaffolding. Here’s an example of an easy-to-follow packet which would walk the students through the entire process, without spoonfeeding nwabr.org/sites/default/files/Debate.pdf. The statement at the beginning about enforcing norms and providing opportunities for discussion and debriefing are particularly noteworthy. This should be introduced immediately after debriefing the Big Ideas Whiteboarding activity, so that students have some time to absorb and apply the debate format. This should also allow them enough time to strategize their approach to the debate itself. If students struggle with the carbon cycle ideas, the carbon cycle game or this alternate carbon cycle activity can be used as just-in-time direct instruction material. The game may be used as enrichment for students who don’t understand the basic concept and as a motivational tool, while the alternate activity uses vocabulary that may be easier to understand, as well as a similar structure and format, while still showing enough differences that students may understand the material better.
Entry Event: Short clip from Mad Max: Road Warrior.. This high interest video will focus students’ attention on future energy needs. It is important to make sure that students realize that this is not a realistic depiction of the near future, but rather a creative way to project what could happen if enough things go wrong. This should be followed by discussion of what students currently know about alternative energy sources, including a comparison of their image of how energy is used worldwide and in the US, as well as in Indiana. A KWL chart helps focus the discussion. The slides from Dr. McCann’s presentation might be very useful here. The two optional videos cited in the timeline could also serve as focusing events that would increase students' knowledge of the factual content. At the end of the period, introduction of the driving question would become the seed for a debriefing session at the beginning of the next period. Link to Mad Max Road Warrior opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hUrcGCQV1g
Activities.
Candle lab. Students will design an experiment to investigate which type of candle burns fastest. The fact that the students create and execute the experiment should give them a sense of ownership. This also allows them to use higher order thinking skills, as they collaborate and create in order to solve a problem on their own. Some prompting from the teacher may be necessary to allow students to succeed in conducting an experiment, but the teacher should also be ready to allow the students to “fail,” in other words, to conduct an experiment with a null outcome. Students should realize that the evaluation grade is more dependent on correct analysis of the experiment than in matching some already established "correct" answer.
Carbon Crisis. (optional) An internet-based activity to allow the students to sharpen their search and research skills, this activity is related to a webquest. It also reinforces the strand of carbon conservation in the content area. Because this is a reinforcement activity, either it or the carbon cycle activity may be omitted if time is a concern.
· Carbon Cycle activity. Students learn through a kinesthetic activity about the importance of carbon conservation, and the consequences of burning fossil fuels without any kind of recovery system. Although this activity is heavily teacher-guided, there is room for post-activity analysis with the students, as they draw conclusions about the implications of carbon sources and sinks.
· Synthesize biodiesel. This will provide a rich experiment to help the students understand how a fuel can be made from other sources. Students will be engaged at the notion of creating their own fuel from household ingredients. In the post-lab discussion, students should be asked to calculate the cost of the fuel they just produced, then compare that to the cost of the amount of fuel they created at the pump. Biodiesel is not the same as the diesel fuel they pump at the gas station, but it can be blended with it. The students should find that it costs much more to produce the fuel they created than the cost at the pump. This should help them draw the conclusion that costs must be controlled and efficiencies must be found if biodiesel is going to be a viable fuel option. This is a qualitative lab, with most of the data in lab being about washing time and clarity of the result after the biodiesel is made, but a more quantitative approach can be made in the post-lab analysis. For instance, the student might measure the biodiesel output, then make an economic comparison of how much that quantity cost to produce with the price of diesel fuel at the pump. Since the pump diesel is higher in energy density, it should cost more, but students will most likely find that their procedure makes the biodiesel much more expensive.
· Calorimetry lab. Using a laboratory calorimeter, students will measure the difference in energy content between different materials by burning them, transferring that energy to a reservoir of water, then measuring the change in temperature of that water. This is a quantitative lab, where students will generate numbers for temperature change, mass, and use a known specific heat to calculate the energy flow. By analyzing that data, students will be able to conclude that petroleum-based fuels contain around 100 times the potential chemical energy of some other simple fuels. Students should be encouraged to think of other materials to try, and as long as safety protocols are observed, allowed to try them out to see what happens. Here is where students will learn the concept of energy density. In the postlab discussion, teachers should also try to introduce the concept of a life cycle assessment, to stress some of the economic difficulties in bringing alternative energy sources to the public.
· Big 4 Whiteboarding. This is where students begin to pull all the information they have been learning over the past two weeks together. The issues of carbon security, energy density, economic feasibility, and technological difficulties should enter into their deliberations. In addition, students may choose to address other issues which have come up during unit discussions, such as effects on hunger and social welfare. Students will address the driving question, and then according to whether they have chosen the affirmative or negative side of the debate, they will work on condensing their argument to four overarching themes, which can be pictured or named on a whiteboard. This will require them reviewing their notes from the previous activities, and possibly beginning to research their position on the driving question, using their netbooks. A circle seminar at the end will preview the information and arguments which may be brought forth during the debate.
· Debate preparation: Using hard scaffolding provided by the teacher and with debate rubric in hand (examples of both at http://nwabr.org/sites/default/files/Debate.pdf) students will work in groups of 4 to prepare a formal debate on the resolution Resolved: that the United States can use biomass to biofuels as a primary energy source within our lifetime. This is the culminating activity, and will allow students to bring in the knowledge they’ve gained about carbon conservation, energy density, economic viability, distribution problems, and technology issues. Students make choices as to which side of the driving question they are on, then prepare a debate brief that supports their position.
· Debates take place. To make this activity more real and meaningful, their debates will be videotaped and put on a Youtube private channel for judging by either other students who have done this unit, or by experts who agree to volunteer their time. Periodically over the next several days, students will revisit the debate topic to see if their attitudes have changed, and to try to discuss the judges’ comments. Students will have more autonomy than is usual in a traditional classroom. Within the structures of a teacher’s personal guidelines, students will be able to choose groupings, design and run their own experiment, and research and answer a question that is important to adults outside of the classroom.
The debate will need lots of hard scaffolding. Here’s an example of an easy-to-follow packet which would walk the students through the entire process, without spoonfeeding nwabr.org/sites/default/files/Debate.pdf. The statement at the beginning about enforcing norms and providing opportunities for discussion and debriefing are particularly noteworthy. This should be introduced immediately after debriefing the Big Ideas Whiteboarding activity, so that students have some time to absorb and apply the debate format. This should also allow them enough time to strategize their approach to the debate itself. If students struggle with the carbon cycle ideas, the carbon cycle game or this alternate carbon cycle activity can be used as just-in-time direct instruction material. The game may be used as enrichment for students who don’t understand the basic concept and as a motivational tool, while the alternate activity uses vocabulary that may be easier to understand, as well as a similar structure and format, while still showing enough differences that students may understand the material better.
picture from: http://www.solarfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/biofuels.jpg