Students will describe ways in which technology affects the environment, both negatively and positively, and identify different forms of energy and their advantages/disadvantages. They will also determine the benefits as well as the environmental harms of using energy to improve our quality of life.

Worksheet included. The teacher may want to bring in some electric or battery-powered appliances to demonstrate how we use electricity in our daily lives. To demonstrate the weight of one pound, 20 pounds, and a gallon, the teacher may want to bring in something that weighs a pound, and an empty gallon container.

National Standards: K-4

• PRI-A: 1.a Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.
• PRI-A: 1.d. Use data to construct a reasonable explanation
• PRI-A: 2.d. Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on investigations. B: 1.a. Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, temperature, and the ability to react with other substances. Those properties can be measured using tools such as rulers, balances, and thermometers.
• PRI-B: 1.b. Objects are made of one or more materials, such as paper, wood, and metal. Objects can be described by the properties of the materials from which they are made, and those properties can be used to separate or sort a group of objects or materials.
• PRI-B: 1.c. Materials can exist in different states—solid, liquid, and gas. Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling.
• PRI-B: 3.a. Light travels in a straight line until it strikes an object. Light can be reflected by a mirror, refracted by a lens, or absorbed by the object.
• PRI-B: 3.b. Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, rubbing, or mixing one substance with another. Heat can move from one object to another by conduction.
• PRI-B: 3.c. Electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effects. Electrical circuits require a complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.
• PRI-B: 3.d. Magnets attract and repel each other and certain kinds of other materials.