RATIONALE :The UN hasdeclaredtheperiodof 2005 to 2014 as theDecade for EducationaboutSustainableDevelopment. OurunderstandingofSustainabledevelopmentisbasedupontheinterplaybetweenEcological,Economicaland Social factorsandwehavetried to use thismodel to informour curricular plans.
The sequence of our activities allows us to integrate the topic of sustainability with the topic of Light because we can get the children to make links and connect each of the activities as they go along.
Target age: Primary School
Expected Outcomes / Basic Topics / Activities / Teaching materials / Teachers competencies
With this activity, children will be able to…
differentiate between recyclable materials
Construct an object using recyclable material
Show the energy of the sun using a radiometer that they have created
Identify the possibility of solar energy use
Connect the activity of recycling with the quality of the environment around them / Concepts:
Materials can be reused; Recycling
Solar energy exists
We can use solar energy
Methodologies:
Active learning (Hands on- minds on science)
Design and make
ICT skills (Children brainstorm the structure of the town etc)
Communication (Cooperative and collaborative groups, exhibiting the project)
Evaluation (metacognition) / Activity 1
Model Town
- Recycling
- Solar energy
- Promote the mindset that things can be used again and again for many different purposes as part of the broader goal of cultivating Environmental Awareness.
- Recognize that solar energy can be exploited by people as an alternative and possibly more viable form of energy.
Collect recycled material from home and school
Gather these materials in class
Use them to create an object that can be part of a model town
Create a Radiometer to show that light energy can be exploited as a possible power source for their model town
Critical discussion based on social sustainability; what personalities and professions etc are needed in order to have a town that works well and develops in a sustainable way? How should people treat each other so that this can occur?
Public Exhibition including reference to social, ecological and economic sustainability and the role that light played in the project.
Division of labor
Individual work within small group context (Cooperative rather than collaborative)
Collaborative small groups
Subjects
Integrated project: Art, Geography, Science, Social studies, ICT
Whole learning community
Public exhibition - other students, teachers and parents etc / Recyclable materials: bottles, cans, cardboard, paper, etc etc
Glue, paint, pencils etc
Computer with internet connection, google images etc / Teacher as mentor and facilitator of group work; helping to extend the ideas etc of the children, encouraging problem solving, promoting their creativity,
Children must be trained to work in groups in a calm and focused way. Teacher must train the children to support and help each other when needed.
Describe what teachers competencies are needed in order to develop “hundred skills”, regarding the multiple communicative and elaborative capabilities of the children
Children will be able to explain the reasons behind the class decision
Talk critically about the effectiveness etc of their project / Concepts:
We are responsible for our own environment – ecologically, socially and economically
Sustainability depends on our behavior as a group and not only as individuals
Methodologies:
Discussion
Small group work
Debate
Concept map / Activity 2
Making our school a better place to be – children decide on an integrated project that they can implement in the class as part of a broader school wide initiative to have each class implementing separate but complimentary projects based on social, economic and environmental sustainability.
Objectives/Motives
To implement the ideas from the “model town” into the school generally (recycling etc)
Children decide on the project in a democratic fashion.
Therefore - Higher motivation because they have ownership over the work, and the children feel important as part of an integrated school community.
Actions:
Class discussion – various possibilities, advantages and disadvantages, viability etc
Concept map
Decide on a project
e.g. Creating a “Use it Again Treasure Chest” that they can share with other classes, which could contain used paper, and scraps etc.
Continuous Evaluation of how their project is going and how sustainable it is etc
Division of labor
Small groups for brainstorming ideas
Whole class discussion
Subjects
Integrated project: Art, Geography, Science, Social studies, ICT, Maths, Languages etc
(Depends on what they choose to do) / Concept map software
The materials needed for the project depends on what the children decide to do.
The children will be able to point out where light is reflected/refracted
Recognize the difference between monochromatic and white light
Make conclusions based on the experiments that they construct to test their hypotheses
The children are able to relate what they do in the game to examples in the world
They are able to discuss differences and similarities between resources of different countries etc
They are able to connect this work back to the work they have done in previous projects about sustainability etc / Concepts:
Light travels in straight lines
White light is made up of different colours and this can be shown using a prism
Monochromatic light is only one colour
Light can be reflected within a certain medium and when it changes medium it is refracted (see change in angle)
Methodologies:
Active learning
Concepts:
Resources are not divided equally
The game they engage in is a reflection of our global society
The actions and inaction of countries have consequences in other parts of the world – Global interdependence
Methodologies:
Game (part of play)
Discussion
Cooperative and collaborative learning / Whole learning community
The whole class and the whole school.
A student committee might be a good way of ensuring this, facilitated by a teacher representative.
Activity 3
Identifying properties of light at a basic level such as reflection and refraction.
Actions
The children play with light and observe its behaviour in various circumstances,
e.g. they can use prisms and sunlight to create a rainbow, identify the colours, use lasers and lenses and various types of prisms
The teacher goes around to the groups to ask and answer questions, extend the children´s learning etc
The children do the light wave experiment in small groups, taking pictures of their actions at various points, testing their theories, recording observations etc
Activity 4
Simulation game regarding the division of resources (this can be specific to energy, e.g. electricity, light etc, or adapted to suit other areas)
Actions
Children receive instructions for the game
They play the game
They discuss the challenges of it in groups
Make changes to their group strategies
Discuss again and make connection between the game they have played and the reality of the world
They discuss implications of, and alternatives to the inequity between nations
Division of labor
Groupwork – unequal numbers, collaborative team challenge
Subjects
Geography, Science, Social studies, Maths
Whole learning community
The class and the families of the children (Prof. Wolff Michael Roth: The children educate their communities when they go home and tell their parents, friends and neighbors etc about what they have been learning.)
Evaluate their results and their learning (Metacognition)
Division of labor
Cooperative and collaborative groupwork and play
Subjects
Science, maths, physics, digital learning
Whole learning community
The children mainly but also the pictures they take could be uploaded onto a school blog/website etc and therefore they would reach more people etc / Lasers [monochromatic light (low strength)]
Prisms
Lenses
Water
Cups
sunlight
Paper, pens etc
Digital camera etc
Laminated footprints
Paper footprints
Chalk
Concept map software
Pictures of various resources etc / The teacher must be able to present conceptual knowledge of light at a basic level which is accessible to children in primary school.
The teacher must act as a facilitator and mentor for the groups as they engage in their experiments so that they do not reinforce any misconceptions etc
Guide rather than lead the discussion,
Ask questions and WAIT for the children to answer, give them enough time so that they can all think about the question rather than expecting them to answer straight away. Avoid giving them the ‘answer´ too quickly.