CROSS-CURRICULAR WORKSHOP: ELA and SOCIAL STUDIES INTEGRATED with THE WATER CYCLE based on book "An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood" by Jimmy Carter. Grades 3-6. Worth 4 CEUs.
In this four hour-long workshop (broken into two parts) participants will first be introduced to the beautifully written autobiography of former President Jimmy Carter, "An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood", published in 2001 by Simon and Schuster. Although a trade book written for adults the book has many chapters and passages that are highly suitable for young readers not only because they are written in simple and eloquent prose, but because much of the book was written from the perspective of a child. But in the opening paragraphs of the book Carter quickly makes an immediate impression with the skill with which he describes the physical environment in the area around Plains, Georgia, including landforms, river systems and soils.
But what few people may know is that, as a child, Carter worked in his family's fields along with many other field hands, picking cotton. In one passage he remarks about everyone's fear about getting "the bear", i.e., that "If someone quit sweating his body temperature could almost immediately jump up five or six degrees and death was a real threat" (p 168). The threat described underscores the critical role that sweating, in particular, the evaporation of sweat, plays in cooling the body. This is actually the basis of the "heat index".
A core component of this workshop will be to demonstrate how two thermometers (one with a cotton "sock" as shown in photo below) and a fan may be used to: 1) illustrate that evaporation is a cooling process and explain why 2) measure the relative humidity of air 2) find the air's dewpoint temperature.
Participants will also get handouts that will include some hands-on activities for their classrooms.
If interested in this unique and innovative workshop for your district please contact Dr. Amy Lilienfeld for scheduling and pricing at amy@circleofillumination.com.
Two thermometers that can be used to measure the relative humidty of air but be used for much... much... more!