The CMI developed an educational toolkit (highlighted and described below) and several sets of lesson plans and activities surrounding critical materials. The lesson plans, materials and guides are available online, here, and include the following topics:
- Finding Critical Materials and Rare Earth Elements
- From Trash to Treasure: Exploring the Circular Economy of Lithium
- Making Sense of Critical Materials
- Critical Materials in Action: Exploration of Phosphors
- Lithium Ion Batteries and Lithium as a Critical Material
- Data Representation Using Critical Materials as Case Studies
- Recycling of Critical Materials
- Cobalt: How is it Found in Nature?
A list of contents for the toolkit is available online. A video describing the contents is available on YouTube.
CMI offers teacher training in how to use the education and outreach toolkit (teachers in a workshop shown at top of page). A presentation slide deck for how to use the materials in the toolkit is available here. One of the activities is demonstrating how quickly magnets of different compositions travel through a non-magnetic copper tube.
For further information please contact:
Danielle Ladd dladd@mines.edu
Research Faculty, Education & Workforce Development
Critical Materials Innovation Hub Education Toolkit
The CMI teacher and outreach toolkit includes samples of critical materials, products that use critical materials, and instructional materials. The activities and lessons were scientifically and educationally vetted, and have been used in classrooms to reach hundreds of youth.
See this video and the newest videos from CMI and its partners on YouTube HERE