This pathway explores the foundational concepts of electric circuits, such as voltage, curent, resistance and capacitance. Some further applications of circuits are also included. Problems are provided to test for understanding.
PBS provides a fascinating glimpse of Egypt's New Kingdom, arising "more than one thousand years after the pyramids were built." Concentrating on the lives of seven pharaohs (one of them a woman), the site includes a timeline, lesson plans (on Egyptian Daily Life, Pharaohs, and Beliefs), and information on the making of PBS's "Egypt's Golden Empire" TV series. Visually impressive, with great pictures of pharaohs, artifacts, reenactments, and more.
Demos and activities in this lesson are intended to illustrate the basic concepts of energy science -- work, force, energy, power etc. and the relationships among them. The "lecture" portion of the lesson includes many demonstrations to keep students engaged, yet has high expectations for the students to perform energy related calculations and convert units as required. A homework assignment and quiz are used to reinforce and assess these basic engineering science concepts.
We all know that it takes energy to provide us with the basics of shelter: heating, cooling, lighting, electricity, sanitation and cooking. To create energy-efficient housing that is practical for people to use every day requires combining many smaller systems that each perform a function well, and making smart decisions about the sources of power we use. Through five lessons on the topics of heat transfer, circuits, daylighting, electricity from renewable energy sources, and passive solar design, students learn about the science, math and engineering that go into designing energy-efficient components of smart housing that is environmentally friendly. Through numerous design/build/analyze activities, students create a solar water heater, swamp cooler, thermostat, model houses for testing, model greenhouse, and wind and water turbine prototypes. It is best if students are concurrently taking Algebra 1 in order to complete some of the worksheets.
The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.
People often say that mankind should learn from history. Charles Dickens, whose books are considered classics, set his novel A Tale of Two Cities in the past. He wanted his readers to learn from the bloody French Revolution and from the widespread brutality in London. Both cities (Paris and London) offer the reader a glimpse into dark and dangerous times. As students read about Dickens's Victorian setting and learn his view of the French Revolution, they will think about what makes a just world. Students will have a chance to think about their own experiences, and, using techniques they have learned from Charles Dickens, they will do some writing that sends a message about your own world.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
To complete the unit accomplishments, students will:
Read the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities.
Read several short pieces, including a biography of Dickens and excerpts from other literature, to help them understand Dickens’s world and the world of the novel.
Explore new vocabulary to build their ability to write and speak using academic language.
Practice close reading and participate in several role plays and dramatic readings to help them experience the dramatic writing style of Charles Dickens.
Write a vignette and a short narrative piece, and practice using descriptive detail and precise language.
Write a reflection about the meaning of Dickens’s novel.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.
How does good storytelling affect the reader, and how can a good story promote change in the world?
What was the Victorian view of gender roles?
How can power be abused?
What is loyalty ? What are the limits of loyalty?
In this lesson, students will discuss the actions of the Revolutionaries in France and discuss whether or not they are being fair and just.
The subtitle of this essay is "How Presidents Have Come to 'Run the Country' by Usurping Legislative Power." It discusses how the Constitution defines executive powers in a general way, with few limitations on the power of the President to overrule the powers of Congress or state governments. The author goes on the outline how the issue of the separation of powers should be a major concern.
Students learn to simplify complex-looking exponential expressions, and they learn efficient ways to describe, communicate, and operate with very large and very small numbers.
Meet the Function Family! Each member of the family has examples of their graphs and descriptions of the types of real-world situation that produce those graphs.
Meet the GIRL!: Autumn loves coming up with solutions to problems in a creative way. She noticed that grocery bags were everywhere in her house so created something to keep them in. She also admires her mother who is an artist and has embraced her inner artist as well. She loves to paint, especially dogs. With a passion for dogs in her heart, she started collecting money to help dogs. She loves to turn trash into treasure with her creativity. [3:16] UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina's GIRL Power! is shining a light on girls of ALL ages who lead, mentor, inspire and impact those around them by tapping into their unique strengths.
Meet the GIRL!: Lizzy is 18 years old and an athlete and a leader. She was born with spina bifida and has embraced herself and her GIRL Power. She is an archer as well as a basketball player. She played as a point guard for the Rollin Rockets in Charlotte NC. She has the goal of playing for the U.S. National team one day in the Paralympics and she has the tenacity to get there! [3:52] UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina's GIRL Power! is shining a light on girls of ALL ages who lead, mentor, inspire and impact those around them by tapping into their unique strengths.
Meet the GIRL!: Tyler is 17 years old and has a passion for helping people. She lost her 4 grandparents to cancer and wanted to do something to help others. She is strong in science and decided to use her science skills to help find a cure for cancer. She volunteers at a hospital to provide some help and kindness to cancer patients. She is also a swim coach for kids helping them to reach their goals as a swimmer. Tyler's passion for serving others is huge and her problem solving science skills are helping to make an impact in her community. [3:28] UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina's GIRL Power! is shining a light on girls of ALL ages who lead, mentor, inspire and impact those around them by tapping into their unique strengths.
A gear is a simple machine that is very useful to increase the speed or torque of a wheel. In this activity, students learn about the trade-off between speed and torque when designing gear ratios. The activity setup includes a LEGO(TM) MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT pulley system with two independent gear sets and motors that spin two pulleys. Each pulley has weights attached by string. In a teacher demonstration, the effect of adding increasing amounts of weight to the pulley systems with different gear ratios is observed as the system's ability to lift the weights is tested. Then student teams are challenged to design a gear set that will lift a given load as quickly as possible. They test and refine their designs to find the ideal gear ratio, one that provides enough torque to lift the weight while still achieving the fastest speed possible.
Students are given a history of electricity and its development into the modern age lifeline upon which we so depend. The methods of power generation are introduced, and further discussion of each technology's pros and cons follows.
Students are introduced to gear transmissions and gear ratios using LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots, gears and software. They discover how gears work and how they can be used to adjust a vehicle's power. Specifically, they learn how to build the transmission part of a vehicle by designing gear trains with different gear ratios. Students quickly recognize that some tasks require vehicle speed while others are more suited for vehicle power. They are introduced to torque, which is a twisting force, and to speed the two traits of all rotating engines, including mobile robots using gears, bicycles and automobiles. Once students learn the principles behind gear ratios, they are put to the test in two simple design activities that illustrate the mechanical advantages of gear ratios. The "robot race" is better suited for a quicker robot while the "robot push" calls for a more powerful robot. A worksheet and post-activity quiz verify that students understand the concepts, including the tradeoff between torque and speed.
How do simple machines and gears help devices work? In this challenge, learners will explore how gears are used in machines and mechanisms. Gears are closely related to simple machines and provide a mechanical advantage in machines. Devices worldwide contain gears and are components critical in mechanical engineering design.
This is a 3-hour lesson that includes a self-paced interactive module and classroom activities. The teacher guide includes a challenge sequence (timeline), relevance to standards, materials list, assessment, evaluation rubric, and learning extensions.
Lesson objectives: (1) Explore the connection between gears and simple machines. (2) Differentiate how different gears do work, transfer power, speed and direction. (3) Design, build and demonstrate a simple model of a gear train.
Students explore the use of wind power in the design, construction and testing of "sail cars," which, in this case, are little wheeled carts with masts and sails that are powered by the moving air generated from a box fan. The scientific method is reviewed and reinforced with the use of controls and variables, and the engineering design process is explored. The focus of the activity is on renewable energy, as well as the design, testing and redesign of small cars made from household materials. The activity (and an extension worksheet) includes the use of kinematic equations using distance, time traveled and speed to enforce exponents and decimals.
The class forms a "Presidential Task Force" for a week, empowered by the president to find answers and make recommendations concerning the future of the national power grid. Task force members conduct daily debriefings with their research team and prepare a report and presentation of their findings for the president, using an actual policy document as a guide. Although this activity is geared towards fifth-grade and older students and Internet research capabilities are required, some portions may be appropriate for younger students.
Students review the electrical appliances used at home and estimate the energy used for each. The results can help to show the energy hogs that could benefit from conservation or improved efficiency.