Please introduce yourself and your school.
Name: Magdalena Sind
City: O’Fallon, Missouri
Grades taught: 5th grade
School type: Suburban public school
Student demographics: 449 students, K-5th
Which activities did you teach?
- Pre-Unit Values Activity
- Lesson 1-Activity 1, 2, & 4 (Energy Observation of School Grounds, Food Chain and Energy Transfer Game, Carbon Cycle Game)
- Lesson 2– Activity 1 & 2 (Trusted Adult Interview and Gallery Walk, Community Map)
- Lesson 6– Activity 1 & 2 (Envisioning a Just Transition, Creating a Just and Equitable Future for All)
The district I teach in currently has a science curriculum, so when I took on this Experience Energy curriculum, I knew that I would have to sprinkle it throughout my existing curriculum plan. I used all of these activities in our 4th quarter unit which is “Using Our Resources Wisely.” The Experience Energy curriculum was full of great resources that complemented and supplemented my existing curriculum.
The Next Generation Science Standards that were addressed in the Lessons/Activities I taught were: 3-LS4-4, MS-LS2-3, 5-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-3, 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3, LS1C, LS2A, LS2B, LS2C, ESS3A, ESS3C, ESS3D, ETS1A, ETS1B, ETS1C, 4-PS3-2, 5-PS3-1, PS3A, PS3D. Aside from the Next Generation Science Standards listed, I used a variety of cross-content standards including those in social justice, social studies, and energy literacy.
Throughout this case study I collected many assessment artifacts including a class meaning map, a personal meaning map, a small energy journal, a Multisolving FLOWER model, and a climate action plan template. I used the “What is Energy?” meaning map as an ongoing resource and assessment for my students.
In the beginning, it was a collection of preconceived ideas or prior knowledge, and when we learned more about energy we were able to add acquired knowledge to the meaning map. I would strongly recommend keeping this as a running account. I did not put these in individual energy journals, but that is something that I would definitely do in the future. That way I could truly gauge the different levels of student understanding.
Which activities went well? What made them successful?
Some of our class favorites were the building energy walk, the food chain game, the carbon cycle game, and building wind turbines. Those activities were a lot of fun for the kids because they were active or new. How many times have you taken your students into the laundry room or deep freezer at your school? Probably never. Many students didn’t even realize these spaces would exist in a school building. From this activity, the kids learned that our particular school is not very energy conscious and they walked away believing that we could do better.
Which activities were challenging? What was difficult about them?
We did start the activity where we made an energy plan for our school building, but unfortunately, we were unable to carry out our action plans due to the lack of time and state testing. In the future, I plan to begin this process earlier so that students have longer to carry out their plans.
Please tell one or two stories that are relevant to your situation and experience teaching the resource.
The food chain game was my personal favorite. We had previously learned the importance of a food chain and energy transfer through living things starting with the sun. The kids were able to take that information and run with it… literally! The kids loved playing different roles in the food chain and getting energy from their peers. They also came back excited to debrief and share where they got energy from and who they passed energy to. I would teach this game in the first unit of the existing curriculum of my school district so that I could utilize it all year long!
I was surprised by how well the Experience Energy curriculum fit into my district’s chosen curriculum. It made it very easy to implement. I told some co-workers that this curriculum offered so many variations of activities. Being a 5th-grade teacher, it was nice to have the option of teaching the 3-5 or 6-8 lessons. If you have an existing curriculum that you have to adhere to, I would comb through this carefully, because I would be willing to bet, there are several activities that work well as a complementary activity, or in some cases could supplement for an activity that exists in your curriculum if you needed a change of pace or just a new idea. No matter what curriculum I would have used this year it would have been new to my students, but the lessons from the Experience Energy curriculum definitely were some of their favorites.
One of my students said, “WOW! I can’t believe we get to walk around the entire building and even see the kitchen where our food is cooked! It’s crazy that all of these things around us are about energy and I never even knew it.” Other students often ask multiple times a week, “Can we play that one food chain game outside again? I love that!” I was even surprised to catch my students talking with one another about what goes in the recycle bin, why our school does not have solar panels, and couldn’t we put at least one wind turbine on our school property? After playing the carbon cycle game, reading about where different energy comes from, and talking about renewable energy, students have become more curious about finding clean energy for our school.
I would recommend doing the values lesson at the beginning of the school year, just because it’s a great personal reflection activity, but then I would strongly suggest coming back to it before beginning this energy unit and then one final time at the end of the energy unit. I had many students not have a very high personal valuation of the environment in the beginning of the year and prior to these lessons. At the end of teaching the Experience Energy lessons, my entire group of students ranked the environment higher on their valuation scales. I also believe that talking about a just and equitable future opened many of my students’ eyes as to what they are privileged to compared to other students in different parts of the world, or even in different cities within their own state. Throughout the lessons I could see a transformation in my students in their understanding of energy origins, the importance of choosing clean energy, and what needs to change if we want to protect the world for a better future for all.
Magdalena Sind is a 37 year old St. Louis, MO native, mother of two amazing boys, teacher to crazy yet incredible 5th graders, yoga teacher for the community, and plant enthusiast! I immensely enjoy being active in the outdoors, traveling to new places, and coming home to my loving and supportive family. I truly believe I am a perpetual student with a serious love for exploration!
Want more inspirational ideas on how to use Experience Energy? Read the other case studies and download the resource on Climate Generation’s Resource Library.
