Fossil fuels lesson
St. Joseph's School | 5th Grade | Social Studies | Present: 25
students, teacher and myself | 1.5 hours field experience including
reflection time
This time in the St. Joseph's classroom, I had the opportunity to witness a social studies lesson on Fossil Fuels. The class had been studying natural resources of the United States up until this point. They had studied about soil and lumber resources. Now it was time to move on to studying about Fossil Fuels. The following were my key takeaways from this lesson:
To begin the lesson, the teacher spent some time getting a sense of what the class already knew. I really appreciated this as a starting point, especially on a topic that is so prevalent in the news. Her question uncovered a lot of relevant information including misconceptions and potential sources of confusion in students' understanding of a complex topic like this.
To explain Fossil Fuels, the teacher used a website called Brainpop.com and their mini-lesson on fossil fuels. She made this choice in the hope that images and pictures would help students remember the information better.
The teacher's use of Brainpop made me take stalk of other technology in the classroom. It has — a TV, DVD and VCR player, Smart Board, Computers and a Document camera. The last device seems to be used the most with the teacher showing all kinds of books, papers and such using the camera.
Once the class had watched the lesson on fossil fuels, they spent some time reflecting on their learning. The teacher asked one really striking question — What did you see that will help you remember what you learned? I thought this was a great question for building self-awareness around the learning experience helping students indirectly learn how they learn and also making their learning process explicit and clear to them.
The whole class then took a quiz that accompanied the lesson. I saw this as a way to capture and reinforce the main facts covered by the 3-4 minute video lesson they had watched. While this was a meaningful way to learn the important information I think there are better, more contextual ways that can be leveraged to help students remember information. For example, picking news stories on the use of fossil fuels can provide real-life stories that can help the facts 'stick' out and and stick in students' brains.
Next, the teacher drew students' attention to where fossil fuels are found in the US. The worked on a map, learning basic mapping reading skills and looking at where fossil fuels are found. The teacher made a great connection between science and social studies when she helped the class realize that fossil fuels are found where deciduous forests exist. Once again, this was a meaningful way to make the topic come alive and make it real. That said, I wonder about an even more holistic approach to covering such topics. So much about fossil fuels covers so many aspects of our lives, starting at any one point that is connected to students' lives and covering the topic in all its complexity, allowing the complexity to be as is, instead of breaking it down for simplicity, might make for a richer learning experience.
By this time, the class was buzzing with excitement on the topic with students itching to share what they already know about fossil fuels from news and other sources. This sensitive teacher allowed time for discussion. They spent 5 minutes on sharing questions and comments on the topic. I could tell that this discussion could go on for hours. I wish it had. It is through these discussions that are connected to student's lives or that have drawn student's attention that real, powerful, lasting learning can happen. Unfortunately, it is these very discussions that get cut short in classrooms in the interest of topics that need to be covered based on a pre-defined curriculum. I need to speak to this teacher about how much flexibility she has in straying away from the curriculum.
The lesson closed with the teacher asking students to share ways in which they themselves can reduce their use of fossil fuels. I was struck by the powerful and real suggestions students made including getting up early so they can walk to school instead of being driven or wearing extra layers so the heat level in their homes can be lowered. I wonder if any of them will follow-up on these …
Takeaway(s)
I was moved by how hard this teacher worked to bring alive a topic so close to students' lives. She did a great job balancing the needs of the curriculum while keeping the lesson real to students. That said, I wish there was a way to step away from the curriculum completely and allow such a powerful topic be driven by the genuine and never-ending interest of students.