This webinar, "Global Topics, Local Teaching," explains how to develop service learning activities in the classroom. Participants will learn about creating project proposals, presentations, service action plans and reflection activities. All of the lesson ideas are student-centered and can be adapted for both local and global issues.

In this week’s Teacher’s Corner, students learn about the work of women in engineering and math. Encouraging more girls and young women to join these professions begins in the classroom by challenging negative stereotypes of the role of women in science.

 

Level

Intermediate

 Language Focus

Reading, speaking (primary focus); listening (secondary focus).

 Goals

During this activity students will do the following:

·       Practice reading skills through a reading activity

·       Develop presentation and speaking skills through a poster presentation

 

Materials

• Teacher: whiteboard/chalkboard, markers/chalk, colored pencils or markers, large sheets of paper (optional)
• Students: pencils or pens, notebooks or writing paper

 Preparation

1. Read through all the materials carefully.
2. Print out copies of “From Computers to Leaders: Women in Science” in Appendix 1. Print one copy for each student in the class.

 Activity part one: Reading for context

1.     Begin the activity by giving each student a copy of the reading “From Computers to Leaders: Women in Science” in Appendix 1.

2.     Have the students read the information on their own for 2-3 minutes. As students read, encourage them to be active readers by underlining or circling any words or ideas they do not understand.

3.     After the students have had a chance to read the information, check their understanding by asking the following questions:

a.     Who are the main persons of focus in this reading? (Answer: Katherine Johnson and Limor Fried)

b.     Where did Katherine Johnson work? (Answer: NASA)

c.     From what school did Limor Fried graduate? (Answer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))

d.     What is the most interesting information you learned in the reading?

4.     After checking the students’ understanding, have them form pairs.

5.     Next, have the pairs write down each of the words in bold from the reading and write a definition for each of the words. Encourage the students to use the context of the reading to write the definitions of the words.

6.     After the pairs have written their definitions, have them join with another pair. In this larger group, have them compare their definitions to see how similar or different they are.

7.     Review the definitions of the words as a class.

a.     Note: The definitions in Appendix 2: Reading Activity Definitions should be taken as guidelines since students’ definitions may vary in wording depending on their level.

8.     Finish this part of the activity by having students write sentences using the word they just defined. Have the students work in their pairs to write new sentences about the reading using these new words.  Make sure to remind students that they can use the sentences from the reading to help them, but that they must write their own original sentences to show that they understand well.

9.     For extra speaking practice, have the pairs share their new sentences with the class.

 

Activity part Two: engineering power

1.     After reviewing the new sentences with the students, you could ask the class one or more of these questions:

a.     Do you know any engineers? What can you tell us about their jobs?

b.     Would you like to be an engineer like Katherine Johnson and Limor Fried?

2.     Have the students list the types of careers that are possible by studying engineering and math.

3.     Have students work in groups to discuss the following questions:

a.     What skills are necessary for engineers?

b.     How can each of us develop our skills in this area?

c.     In our community, do we typically see men in this career or women? Why do we think that is the case?

d.     What do you think could be done so that more women and men pursue careers in this field?

4.     As a class, discuss students’ answers to these questions.

5.     Finally, have the pairs take out a clean sheet of paper.

a.     Note: If possible, provide the pairs with large sheets of poster paper.

6.     Have the students choose one of the ideas they brainstormed and draw a picture representing it on the sheet of paper.

a.     For example students could draw posters of women working in laboratories, programming computers, or as astronauts on the moon!

7.     Once all the pairs have created their poster, have them share their posters with the class for additional speaking practice.

 

For more information on bringing engineering into the English classroom, check out Teaching English for Science and Technology: An Approach for Reading with Engineering English. For more on women in the sciences, check out Grace Hopper and the First Computer Language. Finally, for more on critical reading in the classroom, check out Encouraging Critical Reading in the EFL Classroom.

 

Appendix 1: From Computers to Leaders: Women in Science

Directions: Read the information below. After reading the information, work with a partner to define the words highlighted in bold.

 

When we think of computers, we think of machines. However, the word computer means something that calculates. In the past the word computer was used as a name for people who did math, often using pen and paper. Many of these people were women.

One of the most important early computers was Katherine Johnson.  Johnson worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, where she calculated spacecraft flight paths. At first she was kept from doing engineering work because many people believed that women could not do scientific work. When some people at NASA saw her talents in math and physics, they asked her to help the flight teams preparing to send astronauts to space. In fact the first American in space, Alan Shepard, said he would not travel to space until Johnson had checked the math calculations. Katherine Johnson was a pioneering woman working in mathematics and engineering and encouraged opportunities for more women in engineering.

A modern example of a woman who does innovative work in math and engineering is Limor Fried. Fried graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a student she started her own electronics company where people can buy electronic and computer parts and learn how to build their own digital tools. She creates do-it-yourself, or DIY, projects so that anyone, especially girls and young women, can learn how to create and control technology. While most people today no longer do calculations on pen and paper, they are actively working to create the computers of tomorrow.

 

Appendix 2: Reading Activity Definitions

1. Calculate (verb) – To determine the amount or number of something using mathematics

2. Astronaut (noun) - A person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a vehicle that travels to space

3. Pioneering (adjective) – Working that involves new ideas or methods

4. Innovative (adjective) - Featuring new methods that are original

5. Do-It-Yourself (adjective)– This describes work that is done at home or by non-professionals

Intermediate to Advanced

Reading, speaking (primary focus); writing (secondary focus)         

During this activity students will do the following:

• Practice reading skills related to the environment
• Develop speaking skills by recording an environmental project video

 

• Teacher: whiteboard/chalkboard, markers/chalk, a timing device
• Students: pencils or pens, notebooks or writing paper, recording devices
• Note: This activity involves students creating videos. This can be done on most mobile phones. If video recording is not possible, the project can be done with an audio recording. If mobile phones or other recording devices are not available, students can create environmental reports on paper.

 

1. Read through all the materials carefully.
2. Print out copies of Appendix 1.  
3. This activity occurs across several days and includes the following activities: a homework assignment, a classroom activity about the environment, and an environmental field report. For the environmental field report, students are tasked with visiting a local area where an environmental issue occurs. If this is not possible for the students, they can still create a video where they discuss a local issue without visiting the site.

 

 

In this part of the activity, students will read Chapter 4 of Trace Effects. In this chapter, the characters work to clean up an area near the Grand Canyon in the United States.

1.     Begin this activity at the end of the class session the day before the class session in which Activity Part Two takes place.

2.     Students should read Chapter 4 of Trace Effects for homework.  

a.     Note: If you are new to Trace Effects and the storyline of Chapter 4, see the Trace Effects Teacher’s Manual Chapter 4  for more information.

b.     An alternative to assigning the reading of this chapter as homework would be to have students read it together in class.  This may be more suitable for lower-level learners.

 

 

1.     Begin the class by checking the students’ understanding about the reading homework by asking these comprehension questions:

a.     What state does Trace visit? (Answer: Arizona in the United States)

b.     Who does he meet? (Answer: George)

c.     What is George trying to do? (Answer: Clean up the environment.)

2.     Next, have the students form pairs or small groups. Each group will need one sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.

3.     In their groups, have the students list the three places that George and Trace visit and work to clean up.

4.     Write these words on the board: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” Ask the students if they know the meaning of the terms. Ask the students:

a.     Who do George and Trace ask to recycle? (Answer: They ask the Walkers to recycle.)

b.     Who do George and Trace ask to reuse? (Answer: They ask Sydney and Sierra to reuse.)

c.     Who do George and Trace ask to reduce? (Answer: They ask Zach to reduce.)

5.     Next, give each pair or small group a copy of the Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle worksheet in Appendix 1.

6.     Challenge the groups to brainstorm as many ideas as possible about how to reuse the three items George and Trace found: plastic bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers. Set a timer depending on the level of your students or the time remaining in class.

7.     Once time is up, have the groups share their ideas with the class. The groups can vote on the best ideas, or the pair or small group with the most ideas can be made the winner.

8.     For homework, assign Activity Part Three to the class.

 

For Activity Three, students will work in groups to create short videos to identify a local environmental issue and to present ways to help solve the problem.

1.     As homework, each group of students will select a location in the local area that could benefit from environmental clean-up.

2.     Student groups will coordinate to visit that area.

3.     At the location, have the students record a short video to show the location and describe the environmental issues there.

4.     After showing the location and describing the environmental issue, have the students record themselves explaining how the location could be cleaned up and improved.

a.     What items in the area can be recycled?

b.     Can any of the items in the area be reused? How?

c.     What else can be done to improve and clean up this area?

5.     In the next class, have students share their videos with the class.

 

Optional activity: If possible, after the class has watched all the videos, have them pick one of the locations and organize a clean-up day!

 

For more on bringing environmental issues into the classroom check out:

Integrating Environmental Education into a Genre-Based EFL Writing Class

Going Green: Merging Environmental Education and Language Instruction

 

Appendix 1: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Directions: For each of the items on the left brainstorm ways to reduce using them, ways to reuse them, or what could be made if they were recycled.

 

	Reduce	Reuse	Recycle
Plastic Bottles
Plastic Bags
Newspapers

 

Directions: For each of the items on the left, brainstorm ways to reduce using them, ways to reuse them, or what could be made if they were recycled.

 

	Reduce	Reuse	Recycle
Plastic Bottles
Plastic Bags
Newspapers

 

This puzzle gives you a chance to transform the word note to the word song, one letter (and one word) at a time.