FARMINGTON – University of Maine at Farmington Science Methods students put on Family Energy Day for Cascade Brook School fourth graders today, teaching them about energy efficiency.
Science Methods K-8 Professor Carole Lee split the Energy Day into two sessions, with two fourth-grade classes attending in the morning, and two in the afternoon.
There were eight stations, all dealing with different components of energy. The stations taught students about batteries, energy dollars, conductivity and insulation, drafts in houses, light bulbs, electricity, and energy.
Each student received a yellow map, where when they’ve completed a station’s activity, they put a sticker on the station.
Jessica Meservey, a student in Lee’s class, led an activity on conductivity.
“It’s called, ‘So Hot It’s Cold,'” she said. Conductivity is the ability to direct or transmit heat, which could be visibly seen by which material – wood, metal, or plastic – melted ice cubes the fastest.
“The final question for the kids to answer is ‘which material would you put your ice cream in?’” Meservey said.
Science Methods students Chelsea Collins’ and Ali Butler’s activity was called “Draft Finders and Is it Drafty in Here?” Students from the elementary school were given a pencil and a streamer to use as a draft finder and find drafts in North Dining Hall. After that, they’re shown a model of a house, “with no doors or windows, to show how drafty it is,” Collins said. “Then we use insulated material to show how to stop drafts.”
“We want the kids to take what they’ve learned home with them and show their parents that their houses may be drafty,” Butler said.
The UMF students expressed the hope that the fourth graders take what they’ve learned with them and become more energy conscious.
