This week the students began to explore life in Botswana as part of an integrated unit on solar energy. They met Lerato, a young child who has to travel daily to collect firewood, and began to think about what it means to have no electricity. They also encountered the concepts of the engineering design process and life cycle assessment for materials and technologies.
As part of the integrated science unit students tried to get their minds around the concepts of thermal insulators and thermal conductors. There were clear signs of progress in students thinking as they started with the suggestion that a "microwave" was a thermal conductor and worked their way to the realization that a frying pan is a good thermal conductor because it "transfers heat quickly." Several students were even able to explain why an igloo, a glove, and the fur of a bear were all good thermal insulators.
No comments:
Post a Comment