The SMILE Program @ OSU

We love it when you share with us! Paula Barnhart from Nyssa Elementary School thought this soils widget would be a great source for teachers and students. “Not All Soils Are Created Equal” is a great way to explore the soil layers in the Pacific Northwest and around the country. The widget also explores how the specific soil helps grow the plants in the region.  Enjoy exploring the soils around the country by clicking on the picture!

At the SMILE Teacher’s Workshop Spring 2013, Brad Agenbroad and Ian Niktab presented similar activities to those below.  Other activities can be found on their blog.

Bottle Biology

This activity helps students explore the connection between land and water by allowing them to build a TerraAqua Column and change different variables of the system and observing their effects. These TerraAqua Columns are made from an empty two-liter bottle and other easily recycled items that can be acquired at little to no cost.

2-Liter Bottle Worm Bin: Garbage Eating Worms

In this activity students will learn about the importance that earthworms and microorganisms play in creating soil.  Students will make their own worm farm and will be able to watch the worms turn organic garbage into soil. This hands on activity can also be made easily with found materials.

The links below have really clear instructions that should be easy to follow. The last link is for a larger container that the worms can live in for a longer period of time. Brad suggests the small red wigglers, rather than night crawlers (they tend to get out at night.) If you use the liter bottles, they can live in there for a couple weeks, but you will need to watch the moisture and feed.

Here are the exact lessons that Brad and Ian presented in the Workshop:

https://suite101.com/a/popbottle-wormery-science-craft-a124055

http://www.spelloutloud.com/observing-worms-with-preschoolers.html

This post contains Bioenergy activities for middle and high school that were presented at our Summer Teacher’s Workshop earlier in August. The lesson plans and any other resources for each activity are available on Google Drive. To access the lesson plans, click on the title of each activity. (Note: you do NOT have to have a Google account to access these files.) Please also note that the Fuel Comparison and Generations of Biofuels activities are the same, as both were presented to be used for both middle and high school levels. You are able to download and/or print the files for all of the activities directly from Google Drive, but you must download the file before you can make any personal edits. Please let us know if you have any questions or feedback!

Middle School Activities

The following activities are meant for use in SMILE clubs or classrooms at the middle school level. Each activity includes a comprehensive lesson plan with background information, materials, procedures, and challenge questions for your students. From these activities, we hope your students gain a better understanding of bioenergy and renewable resources, in particular renewable fuels or biofuels. Upon completion of these activities, middle school students should understand that bioenergy technology must be desirable, convenient, and accessible. They should be able to articulate the need for further technology development to challenge traditional energy standards. Through these activities students will also explore benefits to the environment and humans from bioenergy technology and understand that bioenergy pioneering efforts come from unexpected places. These activities will provide interesting, engaging opportunities for your students to learn and grow their understanding of bioenergy.

• Fuel Comparison: Students will be able to understand the positive and negative effects of using fossil fuels and biofuels, why fossil fuels are so prevalent, what are some alternatives to fossil fuels, and what can be done to push these alternatives into market. They will also learn where the energy they use comes from and what kind of energy sources Oregon uses to produce energy.
  

• Generations of Biofuels: Students will learn about the three generations of biofuels, how they are produced, their advantages and disadvantages, and the marketability of each fuel through this discussion-based activity.
  

• Polymer Activity: Students will learn about the use of polysaccharide sugars in the biofuel production process. They will take monomers found in glue and use borax to create a polymer.
  

• Roots and Shoots: Students will design an experiment to measure plant growth rates in the field to gather data to help determine the best crop choice for biofuel production and to explore carbon sequestration.
  

• Soil Investigations: Students will examine three different soil samples and determine the effects of air space on the soil.  

High School Activities

The following activities are meant for use in SMILE clubs at the high school level. Each activity includes a comprehensive lesson plan with background information, materials, procedures, and challenge questions for your students. From these activities, we hope your students gain a better understanding of bioenergy and renewable resources, in particular renewable fuels or biofuels. Upon completion of these activities, high school students should understand that bioenergy technology must be desirable, convenient, and accessible. They should be able to articulate the need for further technology development to challenge traditional energy standards. They will also explore benefits to the environment and humans from bioenergy technology and understand that bioenergy pioneering efforts come from unexpected places. These activities will provide interesting, engaging opportunities for your students to learn and grow their understanding of bioenergy.

• Fuel Comparison: Students will be able to understand the positive and negative effects of using fossil fuels and biofuels, why fossil fuels are so prevalent, what are some alternatives to fossil fuels, and what can be done to push these alternatives into market. They will also learn where the energy they use comes from and what kind of energy sources Oregon uses to produce energy.
  

• Generations of Biofuels: Students will learn about the three generations of biofuels, how they are produced, their advantages and disadvantages, and the marketability of each fuel through this discussion-based activity.
  

• Carbon Footprint Activity: Students will gain an understanding of the effect of their lifestyle choices on their carbon footprint. It will also help them recognize the lifestyle choices available to them that would lower their carbon footprint. Additionally, students will also be asked to critically think whether the available options for lowering their carbon footprint are actions that they are willing to take.
  

• Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs): There are two activities for MFCs — Bacteria Power: Students will explore the phenomenon of electrical production from bacteria by creating a mud bacteria fuel cell and testing the voltages at different time intervals. Battery vs. Fuel Cell – What’s the Difference?: Students will learn what a battery is, how different materials used in the battery influence the effectiveness of the battery, and how to make a battery out of household items. 
  

• Enzymes and Bioenergy: Students will explore enzymes and their use in creation of lignocellulosic biofuels. They will also examine economical and time considerations in new energy efficiency technologies.
  

• Growing Bioenergy: Students will get the opportunity to plant a poplar tree and discuss the uses and growth of poplar trees for bioenergy technologies.