Energy Sources Lesson Plan: Earth and Human Activity
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP Jr. topic Energy Sources, and supports the standard of communicating solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Display an image of solar panels, like this one from the movie (timestamp: 2:44)
Ask:
- Have you seen solar panels like this before?
- What do you think they might do?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Play the Energy Sources movie.
- Click the pause button each time a question appears in Annie’s Notebook and discuss it as a class. Then play to see how Annie answers it.
TIP: The pause button turns red to remind you to pause.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Students take the Easy Quiz or Hard Quiz, demonstrating what they learned about the topic while applying essential literacy skills.
Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND
Students express what they learned about energy sources while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student or grade-level needs.
- Draw About It: Think of an item that could be improved by using renewable energy. Then, draw how it might look and work.
- Activity: Build a solar cooker using materials including foil, poster board, and a shoe box.
- Talk About It: Brainstorm renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy.
- Write About It: Write about ways people can conserve energy in their daily lives.
More to Explore
Related BrainPOP Jr. Topics: Deepen understanding of humans and the environment with these topics: Natural Resources and Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Teacher Support Resources:
