Solar Energy Project Overview

Our solar oven project is an activity to get the students involved in a renewable energy source. We have been learning about all the types of renewable energy and non-renewable energy throughout the week. This activity has the students use what we have learned in class about the renewable energy section this week to help them build their own solar oven. Another part of this experiment will ask your children to cook what they would like to cook in their solar ovens in their home ovens before the solar oven experiment. This will cross into a mathematics lesson with graphs of time over temperature. This project will be considered a strategic thinking activity because the students will have to be creative with their designs of their solar oven. This is strategic thinking because the students will use their previous knowledge on solar energy and materials to help create the best solar oven that cooks their item of choice. Students will used strategies to created their oven and graph for the project.

Lesson Plan

Teachers: Ms. Rozint

Subject:

Science (Renewable Energy)

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.MD.B.4
Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Solve problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions by using information presented in line plots. For example, from a line plot find and interpret the difference in length between the longest and shortest specimens in an insect collection.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7
Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

Objective (Explicit):

Students will be able to understand what renewable energy is.
Students will be able to understand what non-renewable energy is.
They will learn how to be creative with their knowledge of renewable energy.
Students will be able to use math to show a trend.
Students will learn how to write effectively about scientific subjects.
Students will show their knowledge about constructing a solar oven.

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable):

Include a copy of the lesson assessment.
Provide exemplar student responses with the level of detail you expect to see.
Assign value to each portion of the response

Students will understand the vocabulary given at a 90% rate.

Students will show they can construct a solar oven successfully.

Students will understand what the pros and cons of renewable and non-renewable energy.

Students will be able to represent their understanding through the activities presented in class.

Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):

How will you review past learning and make connections to previous lessons?
What skills and content are needed to ultimately master this lesson objective?
How is this objective relevant to students, their lives, and/or the real world?

I will review a section on recycling to help review that we can reuse things and natural resources.

I will have the students understand what renewable meant and ask if they knew of any renewable sources and expand on the knowledge that they already have.

The skills that are need are a clear and concise definition of the vocabulary represented.

Understanding locations for successful capture and storage of the renewable energy.

The lesson is relevant to the student’s lives, because they are learning about the planet that they live on.

They are learning different and sustainable ways to power the lives they live.

They have an understanding of how the Earth produces energy sources (both positive and negative effects).

Key vocabulary: Renewable Energy

Wind

Tidal

Solar

Biomass

Geothermal

Oil

Coal

Non-renewable energy

Location

Technology

Storage

Collection

Materials:

Activity worksheets

Graph examples

Pictures of technologies to get renewable and non-renewable energy sources

Materials for location activity

Dress up clothes for play activity

Definition worksheet

Information on solar ovens worksheet

Solar oven conclusion worksheet

Interactive sites

Opening (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make relevant to real life)

How will you activate student interest?
How will you connect to past learning?
How will you present the objective in an engaging and student-friendly way?
How will you communicate its importance and make the content relevant to your students?

I will first start out by asking my students about what sources does our planet give us. I will elaborate and give examples like the sunshine or water. When I connect to past learning I may give an example of how recycling works to help the creative juices start flowing. I will start by going over what important vocabulary means. Then elaborate more on that subject, this should help the students grasp the concept of what I mean by solar energy or renewable energy. I will also tell my students they will be using the information they learn in classes for future activities and a project. This will help them hopefully stay focused, because they will need to show that they know and understand the content discussed in class time. I will communicate to my students that it is important to know this information because we use energy every day in many different ways. The ways that we capture and store the renewable energy to be used in homes will be relevant to the students, because they will then ask how they get the electricity to power the lives they live.

Instructional Input

Teacher Will:

How will you model/explain/demonstrate all knowledge/skills required of the objective?
What types of visuals will you use?
How will you address misunderstandings or common student errors?
How will you check for understanding?
How will you explain and model behavioral expectations?
Is there enough detail in this section so that another person could teach it?

Student Will:

What will students be doing to actively capture and process the new material?
How will students be engaged?

Go over definitions of vocabulary.

Make sure students have a good understanding of the vocabulary.

I will show visuals of what and how renewable energy works.

I will also visually show the best locations for these technologies to have the best storage and capture rate.

I will show students how to make a simple graph with temperature and time.

I will model how we will do the activities in class by showing them a visual of what I want them to do.

I will help go over important information and make my definitions as clear and concise as I can so there will be no confusion of the important information that they will need to use in later activities and projects.

I will help with technological devices during our interactive learning lesson.

Show how to construct a solar oven

Show what the capturing process looks like.

Explain how I want the solar oven project to be done.

Go over conclusion questions for the solar oven project to assess learning and understanding.

Learn vocabulary through multiple different activities and means.

Learn how this is relevant information.

Do activities together as a group to reinforce previous knowledge and test content area from class discussion.

Construct a graph that shows temperature over time.

Construct a solar oven that works properly

Use interactive sources to solidify knowledge content.

Use physical learning to help with cognitive development

Answer questions about the outcome of the solar oven project.

Differentiation Strategy

What accommodations/modifications will you include for specific students?
Do you anticipate any students who will need an additional challenge?

Some modifications and accommodations that I can have for students that are not learning at the same rate as their peers are extra help in understanding the definitions clearly.

I think that once a student understands the definitions that are being represented throughout this lesson.

I will use multiple ways of representing the same concept I am teaching to the peers.

Any student could have challenges in learning concepts in class, it depends on the students learning style and their subject of enjoyment.

Guided Practice

Teacher Will:

How will you ensure that all students have multiple opportunities to practice new content and skills?
What types of questions can you ask students as you are observing them practice?
How/when will you check for understanding?
How will you provide guidance to all students as they practice?
How will you explain and model behavioral expectations?
Is there enough detail in this section so that another person could facilitate this practice?

Student Will:

How will students practice all knowledge/skills required of the objective, with your support, such that they continue to internalize the sub-objectives?
How will students be engaged?
How will you elicit student-to-student interaction?
How are students practicing in ways that align to independent practice?

Provide visual, physical, written and reenactments of the concepts that are being presented in class.

I will offer enough time for all students to present their findings and explanations.

Offer multiple activities for the specific learning style of the student.

I will ask what they do not understand about the topic to get an idea of where to backtrack from.

I can ask them how they came to their conclusion and why.

I will check for understanding by asking the student multiple different questions based off of the content covered in class.

I will provide guided practice with going around and having mini discussions about what each group is working on and if they need extra explanation on the content.

How I will model behavior expectations would be to tell my students what I expect of them and if they don’t do as I ask them they will have a solitary activity that they can do on their own.

The students will have many activities to help them learn the concepts in class in multiple different ways so it will be approachable by multiple types of students.

Students will have a chance to use written expression, acting and visual representations to help solidify the understanding of the topic.

I will have the students pick their groups one day, then I will assign them groups and then they will work in their table groups to give the groups some differentiation and learn different ideas from other peers in class.

Students will learn from their peers in the groups I set up for them.

Since the students are learning from each other they are building off each other to learn how to work independently.

Most of the time the students will not be work independently, they will have special parts during presentations and group work to help with a smaller scale of understanding to start with.

Independent Practice

Teacher Will:

How will you plan to coach and correct during this practice?

How will you provide opportunities for remediation and extension?
How will you clearly state and model academic and behavioral expectations?
Did you provide enough detail so that another person could facilitate the practice?

Student Will:

How will students independently practice the knowledge and skills required by the objective?
How will students be engaged?
How are students practicing in ways that align to assessment?
How are students using self-assessment to guide their own learning?
How are you supporting students giving feedback to one another?

Will show the students the links to the interactive activities.

Will show pictures of solar ovens

Give a list of materials to make ovens with.

Help guide students through conclusion questions and other written activities.

Students will go home and work on interactive activities if they need more practice on understanding.

Students will have to make their solar oven at home.

Students will have to answer questions about their solar oven on their own.

Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections:

How will students summarize and state the significance of what they learned?
Why will students be engaged?

The students will state that they learned about renewable and non-renewable energy through activities that are presented in class.

They will state that coal and oil is used more often in home electricity and heating.

They will state that renewable energy comes from the planet and can be restored quickly and used for daily living.

The students will be engaged because the whole week we are doing interactive activities in and outside of class to support the concepts taught in class.

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