English Teacher Nikita Chen
The importance of electricity can hardly be exaggerated as it’s vital and fundamental in our lives. People nowadays cannot imagine an hour let alone a day without electricity. The word “electricity” was first printed in 1646. In 1745, the “Leyden jar” was invented and proved to be a valuable historical invention. As later on, Benjamin Franklin did his famous kite experiments by storing electricity attracted from storm clouds in a “Leyden jar”. He believed that thunderclouds carried electricity and his electric kite experiments demonstrated lightning was a large flash of electricity. Benjamin Franklin discovered the connections between lightning and electricity with his kite. This was the beginning of our reading project: “How a kite changed the world.”
In the past, when people were watching his experiments, they felt like watching an entertaining show. Admittedly, people didn’t understand electricity was important until electricity benefited their lives. With time, people started to explore everything about electricity. This electric idea jolted our students into thinking about their own personal experiences.
After our students read How a Kite Changed the World, they began to wonder how electricity affected their daily lives. To answer this question, our students observed every possible electronic item at school. While they shared their ideas, they not only understood the importance of electricity, but also realized there were more electronic items at home, furthering the discussion. The more items they discovered, the more learning pleasure and joy they took from reading and researching. As a matter of fact, it dawned upon them that the moment they wake up in the morning or get on the school bus, electricity is being used. Once the students realized there were numerous things that were operated by electricity, they then could analyze how these electronic items affected our daily lives.
As soon as the students had brainstormed the various uses of electricity, they shared several perspectives in small groups. When the groups had sufficient information, they compared their ideas with other groups. Much like the connecting lightning bolts in the sky, the students were able to draw a clear delineation from the kite string of Benjamin Franklin to the electronic items that affect all aspects of our lives. The students grouped the electronic items into categories such as food, clothing, transportation, housing, and even subcategories like entertainment. The intellectual spark was now lit.
They extrapolated further and posed the question: “How do these electronic items improve our daily lives?” Like a clap of thunder, a loud noise echoed through the classroom. There wasn’t a storm outside, but rather the intellectual curiosity of the students naturally diving into discussion. They contributed their personal experiences to our class discussion and shared different points of view on similar electronic items. They argued over one of the most common items powered by electricity, the alarm clock. Students expressed various views on how alarm clocks did not improve their life because they couldn’t sleep longer. Another group, however, made a counter argument that claimed the alarm clock was an excellent reminder because they didn’t need to worry about being late for school.
Our students described how electricity plays an important role in our lives and how it affects our lives by providing personal experiences at school and at home with concrete details. All the convenience electricity brings to our lives exactly validates that a kite did change the world!
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