Good Article Review About Coal - Science

In summary, the article “Can Coal Ever Be Clean?” by National Geographic was about how energy plants that uses coal prevent the dumping of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. According to Michelle Nijhuis (2014), there are a lot of disasters that happened in the past because of the use of coal, and a lot of companies like Mountaineer have tried to capture the carbon dioxide and while some even tried to inject the carbon dioxide to depleted oil fields. Her article indicates that different environmental agencies and groups are doing research and experimentation to prevent the continuous dumping of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Success means, the coal still wouldn’t be clean, but it would be much cleaner than it is today.
I believe this would merit discussion in the class because it showed that through science, there can be a lot of ways to help protect our planet. The article was presented in a very lengthy manner because there is too much irrelevant information, though it is written in a very good manner because the thought are well arranged. I find it very stimulating because it gave hope in preventing further destruction of the environment.
This topic can relate to my students by comparing coal to a candy or food they have. Kids love food specially candies, but the waste we got from it is not good to the environment, so we should teach them how to properly dispose it. It is relevant that the children already know what can harm the environment because in the future they will be the ones to suffer the consequences.
I would present the article to my students by showing them that from the GPS curriculum, the article is conceptually connected to the topic of Physical Science since coal is classified as a non-living thing. For them to understand the concept of coal, I will present the concept of coal from general to specific. In order to let the students understand this, the concept of living things and non-living things will be pointed out at first. Then, an example of how the article may supplement the curriculum would be having an activity like the classification of non-living things, like coal, that are harmful to the environment and those that are not. Through this approach the students will be able to explore how non-living things affect living things like humans. Then after pointing out that coal is a non-living thing, I will show students an actual example of coal mixed with other particles such as stone in which they can sort it, compare it, and describe it based on its physical attributes such as shape, texture, color and number. They will use their senses in determining and comparing this physical attributes. Through this exercise, they will be made aware of the physical attributes of coal.

Reference

Nijhuis, M. (2014, April). Can Coal Ever Be Clean? Retrieved January 18, 2015, from National Geographic: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/04/coal/nijhuis-text