Empowering Teachers & Students
to Explore Science Education
Energy Transfer was developed to support kindergarten teachers through informative, hands-on science training, as well as through supplemental materials for use in the classroom. This Teacher Professional Training Development (TPD) program covers Standard 3 Objective 1 of the kindergarten science core—movement of non-living things.
Embrace and explore science education with inspiring hands-on training by Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum. Workshops are FREE for public school teachers. Teachers can choose one of three modules that best fit their needs. Upon completion, teachers will receive materials to take back to their classroom and implement what they have learned.
Module Descriptions:
Observation Tubes
Discover how to make and use observation tubes to help your students develop their ability to interact with phenomena and make observations and data recordings. Learn how to facilitate discussion about observations, sharing of data, and working as a team to describe findings. Create opportunities for emergent bilingual students to thrive. Phenomena observation creates a shared experience that allows all students to develop language skills rooted in experience as the teams work to develop shared descriptions and ways of recording data. Explore examples of how observation tubes have been used successfully in several classes with students who have special learning needs.
Bee-Bots
Programming provides multiple ways to further investigate the movement of non-living things. For example: learning to program and give the Bee-Bot directions (coding) helps young learners develop their language and direction-giving skills. The Bee-Bot also provides age-appropriate opportunities to make mistakes and develop perseverance as students work to guide the bee to its target flower. During this module, teachers will learn age-appropriate coding, how to use Bee-Bots in the classroom, and can explore curated learning supports for coding. The social-emotional aspects of perseverance and resiliency will be investigated as we practice facilitating discussions about expected outcomes, test runs, and making changes to our thinking.
The Story
Stories can take our learning deeper. This module provides book recommendations to delve into stories about the movement of non-living things and forces at work. Explore several discovery stations designed to align with the books. Teachers will have the opportunity to experience the stations, ask questions, and determine what options and materials will allow them to bring this learning to their classroom. Next, explore ways to integrate age-appropriate field notebooks and science art to document student learning.
Workshop Breakdown
Energy Transfer is free for public school teachers. Each module is an hour-long workshop held at Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum in downtown Salt Lake City. For school districts that are more than two hours away, requests can be made to have this program presented at your school, and we will do our best to accommodate. Energy Transfer workshops also provide a forum for teachers to discuss their successes and struggles to teach the science core curriculum. Upon completing the workshop, teachers receive one point for each module they take toward renewing their educator’s license. Teachers will also receive materials for use in the classroom.
2024 DATES
For more information regarding Energy Transfer, you may contact Jonathon Campbell at jcampbell@discoverygateway.org or (801)456-5437 x140.
Utah State Legislature funds Energy Transfer with oversight by the Utah State Board of Education through the Informal Science Education Enhancement (iSEE) grant.
