A Partnership among the Tracy Farmer Center for the Environment, the Center for Applied Energy Research, Governor’s Office of Energy Policy, and the NEED Project

Teachers from central Kentucky will be invited and the number of participants will be held to 30. During this professional development series, elementary and middle school teachers will explore energy topics along side Kentucky experts. Teachers will listen to lecturettes on energy principles and then participate in hands-on activities that are aligned with the big ideas and content bullets found in the Kentucky Core Content for Assessment and Program of Studies. The programs will heavily focus on the ideas of energy transfer and transformations. The events will be a combination of six- and three-hour programs, some during the summer, some after school or on Saturdays during the school year. The professional development series will be advertised through the science, curriculum, and professional development coordinators of central Kentucky school districts. Teachers will receive a $50 stipend for the day or afternoon or they can opt for professional development credit when needed. Lunch or light refreshments will be provided at all events. The program evaluation will consist of pre and post content tests, concept maps, and interviews. Teachers will be encouraged to keep journals of all activities so they can bring questions back to the next session. Teachers will have the schedule of events in advance and will know that high quality professional development will be ongoing. Teachers will be encouraged to continue through the full three year sequence. Costs for the program are in separate spreadsheets.

Connections to Kentucky’s Core Content for Assessment

The program will be aligned with the following core content concepts:

Big Idea: Energy Transformations

• SC-EP-4.6.3
• Students will analyze models of basic electrical circuits using batteries, bulbs and wires, in order to determine whether a simple circuit is open or closed.
• SC-04-4.6.3
• Students will evaluate a variety of models/representations of electrical circuits (open, closed, series, and/or parallel) to:
• make predictions related to changes in the system;
• compare the properties of conducting and non-conducting materials.
• SC-05-4.6.3
• Students will:
• draw conclusions about the transfer of energy within models/representations of electrical circuits as evidenced by the heat, light, sound and magnetic effects that are produced;
• describe changes within the system that would affect the transfer of energy.
• SC-EP-4.6.4
• Students will describe light as traveling in a straight line until it strikes an object.
• SC-04-4.6.4
• Students will:
• analyze models/representations of light in order to generalize about the behavior of light;
• represent the path of light as it interacts with a variety of surfaces (reflecting, refracting, absorbing).
• SC-05-4.6.4
• Students will identify predictable patterns and make generalizations about light and matter interactions using data/evidence.
• SC-04-4.6.5
• Students will:
• identify ways that heat can be produced (e.g. burning, rubbing) and properties of materials that conduct heat better than others;
• describe the movement of heat between objects.
• SC-04-1.2.3
• Students will:
• explain that sound is a result of vibrations, a type of motion;
• describe pitch ( high, low) as a difference in sounds that are produced and relate that to the rate of vibration.
• SC-07-4.6.2
• Students will:
• describe the transfer and/or transformations of energy which occur in examples that involve several different forms of energy (e.g., heat, electrical, light, motion of objects and chemical).
• explain, qualitatively or quantitatively, that heat lost by hot object equals the heat gained by cold object.
• SC-08-4.6.2
• Students will:
• describe or explain energy transfer and energy conservation;
• evaluate alternative solutions to energy problems.
• SC-08-4.6.4
• Students will:
• analyze information/data about waves and energy transfer;
• describe the transfer of energy via waves in real life phenomena.

The program for the first year, 2007-08, will be conducted as follows

• August 2007
• 6-hour program conducted at UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research Scientists and engineers at the CAER will conduct four energy activities, related to transfer of energy and energy transformations, along with practical applications. Teachers will learn how to use those activities in the classroom and keep energy journals, so they can keep track of their successes and problems.

• Fall 2007
• College of Agriculture Biosystems and Ag Engineering faculty: Dr. Sue Nokes or Dr. Czar Crofcheck will demonstrate practical applications of energy transformations and transfer of energy at UK’s Good Barn.

• Winter 2008
• Karen Reagor of Project NEED will use NEED's Science of Energy kit to provide comprehensive instruction on energy transformations through a series of hands-on experiments. Students will learn about the different forms of energy and how they are converted to other forms. Each of the six stations explores a different aspect of energy transformations - such as light to electricity, light to hear, motion to sound, motion to heat. etc. She will also use NEED's Energy Flow activity to demonstrate energy transformations.

• Spring 2008
• UK’s Tracy Farmer Center will focus on energy conservation and efficiency activities that are appropriate for elementary and middle school. The team will use NEED's energy management pieces and energy inventories.

The program for the 2008-09 will be set after an evaluation of the 2007-08 program.