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Renewable Energy Curriculum Units
Eight curriculum units, developed by teachers who were National Fellows in a 2007 seminar through the National Initiative of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, explore the science related to current and potential future sources of energy, with a focus on renewable energy. The curriculum units, designed for elementary through high school, integrate science content with language arts, mathematics, and social studies. Several units focus on a theme or activity related to photosynthesis, including a 3-D model-based unit on the fundamental processes of photosynthesis. Other units are related to future sources of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, as well as to the impact of our energy use on Earth. For example, “Stylin’ Your Ride: A Student's Guide to Designing Green Vehicles,” written for a ninth-grade integrated science class, explores the transportation technology currently available and the technologies that are being developed for future use in vehicles. A unit called “Environmentalists and Chemists Unite: A Chemistry Class for our Changing World” enhances standard high school chemistry content with a series of engaging connections and activities on alternate energy sources. All units include an “entry guide” summarizing what the unit provides, an introduction, objectives, teaching strategies, sample lessons, classroom activities, and lists of resources for teachers and students. The website of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute—a pioneering university-school collaboration that integrates curriculum development with intellectual renewal for teachers—features several thousand other curriculum units that can be adapted for classroom use. The “Renewable Energy” seminar was part of the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools. A 2009 report, To Strengthen Teaching: An Evaluation of Teachers Institute Experiences, is available as a related link. It presents the results of a study of participants in Teachers Institutes in Houston, New Haven, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh from 2003-2008 and in National Initiative seminars at Yale from 2005-2008.
Modeling Photosynthesis
This curriculum unit on modeling photosynthesis is one of eight teacher-developed units that address topics related to renewable energy.
Media: Web pageProgram Director: Robert J. Wyman, Ph.D.
Award Years: 1989, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006
Summary: Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Its HHMI-funded initiatives include:
- Increasing diversity in the sciences through its flagship STARS (Science, Technology and Research Scholars) Program, which has been nationally recognized for its success in fostering ethnic minority students on their way to science degrees and biomedical careers;
- Improving the quality of teacher training through programs such as the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, which invites teachers to participate in seminars where they create new curricula, and Yale’s Teacher Preparation Program, which trains new science teachers.
- Offering summer residential programs with classes and labs for inner-city high school students, and providing science enrichment in city schools through DEMOS, a program that encourages Yale students to volunteer in school enrichment activities, science demonstrations in the elementary and middle schools and science and math research teams in the upper grades.