https://koshland-science-museum.org/explore/lights-night-webquest
Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences
Activity takes two 45-minute class periods. Computer access is needed for part of the activity.
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»Grade Level
Topics
Climate Literacy
This Activity builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
Energy Literacy
This Activity builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines
Other materials addressing:
B) Recognizing citizens' rightrs and responsiblities.
Other materials addressing:
A) Individuals and groups.
Other materials addressing:
A) Human/environment interactions.
Other materials addressing:
C) Resources.
Other materials addressing:
D) Technology.
Other materials addressing:
E) Environmental Issues.
Other materials addressing:
A) Identifying and investigating issues.
Other materials addressing:
B) Sorting out the consequences of issues.
Other materials addressing:
C) Identifying and evaluation alternative solutions and courses of action.
Notes From Our Reviewers
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- The idea of having students describe what they see in the night sky is nice, but it will be difficult to have them discuss whether or not what they see is disturbed by light pollution. To arrive at this conclusion, they would need to see a difference.
- Possible follow-up topics include energy cycles (photosynthesis and respiration), global climate change, properties of light and energy (from a physical science perspective).
- Educators should emphasize that the carbon calculator is using some simplified equations. They will appear like a black box to the students and some more explanation will be helpful.
About the Science
- The activity challenges users to connect energy use and decisions with broader environmental impact. It forces individuals to examine their energy use and expands thinking beyond immediate self and neighborhood to global perspective.
- There is an interesting but unexplained connection between evening lighting and energy usage as the starting premise for the activity. It would be enhanced if the connection was supported by scientific data. One image suggests lighting in the United States has decreased, yet national energy use has not. Data is from 1993, 1997 and 2003.
- Activity takes students on a journey from local to regional to national to world - with changing perspectives on the topic.
About the Pedagogy
- The activity uses a nice mix of different learning methods - video, graphs, and internet research.
- Great guideline for educator with clear instructions for the activity.
- Different learning styles are addressed with the mix of teamwork, visualizations, and classroom discussions.