Energy is the ability to make something work (US Energy Information Administration,2019). Energy can’t be destroyed therefore it goes from one energy source to another. These sources can be things such as wind, heat, light and turbine.
As a class teacher, I would demonstrate the knowledge of energy, linking with all the definitions and the sources etc and then I would link to this youtube video which really engages pupils into what energy actually is and how it can be performed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0_S5YpYVo
When teaching pupils about energy, it is important that we define it and we want our pupils to understand energy. We also want our pupils to have an appreciation for non-renewable and renewable energy. Non- renewable energy involves sources such as coal, natural gases and oil for example. Renewable energy is when we restore energy from another source such as wind, rain or heat for example (Aust,2014).
Before this session, I underestimated the amount of energy we actually use in our world on a daily basis. We use fossil fuels so we can burn them to make a source of energy. For example, we use transport fuels such as petrol or diesel to make our cars work. We also use natural gas in order to cook our food and heat our houses. As teachers, we should encourage our pupils to be less dependent on fossil fuels so that our world isn’t damaged and this then links with global warming as our earth is being trapped with all these dangerous gases caused by fossil fuels (Segal, 2018).
In our sections, we took part in a debate about alternative energy. In this task two teams had to debate for and against the subject of “Are wind turbines a viable alternative to fossil fuels?”. In small groups we had to gather information that would back up a point we had suggested. I took part in the against team, this was something I had never took part in before so this was a challenge for myself to stand in front of peers and put my point across about the wind turbines and I gained self-confidence doing so. This allowed us to gain research skills as well as working in a team and listening to our opponent. The task was better in groups as you learned more and were able to share the workload with one another.
If you were to take this lesson with pupils, it is important to ensure that all pupils are alright with the debate and consider how certain pupils may feel talking out in front of the class. It is important that you encourage everyone to be involved, for example, give everyone a role within the group which allows them to feel like they have had a part in the task.
This link demonstrates what debating actually is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juuiZPQ1ZWk
Within our science session, we investigated different experiments we could complete that created energy. We took part in experiments such as creating a fuse and a solar panel car. The creating a fuse task allowed us to create a fuse on the circuit board using electricity and steel wool and the steel wool then caught on fire due to the short circuit being created to make the fuse. It introduced problem solving skills and critical thinking, however we established there needed to be health and safety due to the fire. So for this task it’s important that we do health and safety before using electricity with pupils. The solar panel car was very engaging for pupils to undertake as they could control the car by holding the solar panel to the light.
These tasks demonstrated that we need to ensure kids are kept safe when being taught about electricity or energy but they are also able to have fun.
Our last session was tinkering vs structured in technologies. This allowed both sections to create a vehicle using materials and finding the type of energy you would use to make your vehicle move. The two sections created the same model but the tinkering session has the freedom to design their own model which made it unique, compared to the structured section that were given instructions on how to complete the model therefore everyone’s looked the same. Tinkering allows us to considered how something could work therefore it became frustrating when some of our materials didn’t work out and we had to change them. Our car ran on kinetic energy as we created a ramp for it to go down. Here is our car;
This task was important as it highlighted how encouraging it is to see how you can make a young person feel capable to create something of their own. It also links to sustainable development as it highlights that we should encourage more STEM classes so that we can change and improve lives, especially for girls.
Overall, linking to the professional standard of social justice, it is crucial that we teach pupils different ways to use energy to protect our world from running out of natural resources. We must encourage pupils to demonstrate what changes they can make to the world by using less energy.
References
Aust,A. (2014) Non-Renewable and Renewable Energy Resources [Online] Available: https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2014/02/13/nonrenewable-and-renewable-energy-resources-2/ [Accessed: 17th November 2019)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0_S5YpYVo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juuiZPQ1ZWk
Segal, R.(2018) Should We Depend on Fossil Fuels or Renewable Energy? [Online] Available: https://www.theperspective.com/debates/living/depend-fossil-fuels-renewable-energy/ [Accessed: 17th November 2019].
US Energy Information Administration (2019) What is Energy? [Online] Available: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/what-is-energy/ [Accessed: 8th November 2019].
