FOCUS QUESTION:
· What do you know about energy and about forces?
CONCEPTS:
· Energy can be converted from one for to another
· Different forces exist and act on bodies in different ways
· Machines help people do work
· Unbalanced forces change the motion of an object
· Plotting and analyzing graphs of collected data can determine relationships among objects.
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSWORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
·
Curricular considerations:
· Do relevant pre-assessments before a chunk of related lessons
o Inquiries 1.4 & 1.5 before Lesson 2
ü For Inquiry 1,4, the graph orientation may be misleading. Perhaps give students blank graph paper.
ü For Inquiry 1.5, Transforming Energy, rub the rubber band back and forth on the motor shaft (not on the book). This is an easier method to get the bulb to light. Not as easy to see that turning the motor shaft either way (turning the shaft just to the left or just to the right) will light the bulb. Another suggestion is to cover a ruler with weather stripping, and light the bulb by rubbing the motor shaft on the covered ruler.
o Inquiry 1.6 BEFORE Lesson 5
o Inquiries 1.1, 1.2, & 1.7 (perhaps use spring scales instead of fingers) BEFORE Lesson 11
o Inquiries 1.3 and 1.8 BEFORE Lesson 18
INQUIRY ALERT!
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
FOCUS QUESTIONS:
· How do you make a battery?
· How do you know a battery works?
CONCEPTS:
· A battery consists of two separate metal electrodes immersed in an ionic solution
· Batteries supply energy to operate devices
· The electrical energy that a battery supplies is the result of chemical reactions between the electrodes and the electrolyte in the battery.
· A battery contains a limited amount of energy
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSEnergy
Electrode
Electrolyte / System
Circuit
Energy
Stored energy
Charge
Electrical / Chemical
Electricity
Transfer
Thermal
Transformation
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Battery
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
· If you notice that the zinc strip has a “rainbow” shine to it, it may be coated. If the zinc strip is coated, the battery will not work. The coating can be removed by scrubbing the zinc strip with steel wool but bring this situation to the attention of whoever purchases these strips.
· Mixing the copper sulfate solution as described will yield far too much solution. Start with half the amount and mix more if necessary
· Copper sulfate solution SHOULD NOT be poured down the sink. Best to let it evaporate in a large pan and reclaim the crystals.
· Chemical reaction will exhaust itself.
Curricular consideration:
· Inquiries 1.4 & 1.5 before Lesson 2
o For Inquiry 1,4, the graph orientation may be misleading. Perhaps give students blank graph paper.
o For Inquiry 1.5, Transforming Energy, rub the rubber band back and forth on the motor shaft (not on the book). This is an easier method to get the bulb to light. Not as easy to see that turning the motor shaft either way (turning the shaft just to the left or just to the right) will light the bulb. Another suggestion is to cover a ruler with weather stripping, and light the bulb by rubbing the motor shaft on the covered ruler.
INQUIRY ALERT!
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
FOCUS QUESTION:
· What evidence do we have that energy is stored in a battery?
· How can we change the amount of energy stored in a battery?
CONCEPTS:
· Energy can be stored in a battery
· Energy can be transformed from one form to another
· Different devices use energy at different rates
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSSystem
Stored energy
Charge
Electrical / Chemical
Electricity
Transfer
Transformation
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
· Ensure batteries are discharged. Rotate batteries in flashlights for several days (flashlights must be turned ON) before the batteries will drain completely. Helpful to have an extra set of batteries.
Curricular consideration:
· Energy change can be defined as either adding energy to or removing energy from a system
INQUIRY ALERT!
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
FOCUS QUESTION:
· How does charging time affect the stored energy in a rechargeable battery?
CONCEPTS:
· The amount of energy stored in a rechargeable battery is proportional to the time the battery is charged.
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSStored energy
Transfer
Electrical
Electricity / Transformation
Charge
Energy
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
·
Curricular consideration:
· Generate class data graph, not just own data graph
INQUIRY ALERT!
· Have students design an investigation to figure out how charging time affects the stored energy in a rechargeable battery.
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
FOCUS QUESTION:
· What is a force?
· How are mass and weight (force of gravity) related?
CONCEPTS:
· A force is a push or a pull on an object.
· Physical qualities such as force and mass are measured in units defined in measuring systems.
· Weight and mass are different characteristics of an object and are measured in different units.
· Mass is related to the amount of matter in a body.
· Weight is a measure of the force of gravity on a body.
· For small displacements, the elastic force a rubber band exerts is proportional to how much the rubber band stretches.
· The gravitational force on a body is directly proportional to the mass of the body.
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSWeight
Mass
Newton
Gravitational force / Force
Elastic / Applied force
Frictional force
Gravitational force Elastic potential energy / Pull
Push
Weight
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Force
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
· Calibrate the spring scale
Curricular consideration:
· Pre-assess with Inquiry 1.6
· Make transparencies and handouts of the two types of spring scales, 10 N and 2.5 N (make sure the scales are calibrated before making transparencies). Teach students how to read and interpret the scales. For example, mark off 4.5 N on the 10 N transparency scale, and have students write the reading. An alternative approach is to have students mark off a scale reading that you tell them on their own spring scale handout.
· Inquiry 5.2 is a key part of this unit because it addresses the difference between mass and weight (see page 40 in the student guide).
· Discuss with students the idea of standardizing set-ups.
· Generate data graph from several classes, not just individual data graphs.
· After graphing, data appeared to have a linear relationship. Use data to make predictions.
INQUIRY ALERT!
· Inquiry 5.2 is an opportunity for students to design their own investigation for measuring gravitational force.
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
· Reading on how much weigh on other planets.
o Use a bathroom scale to weigh students on Earth. Use the internet to find relative gravities of other planets, and make a chart. Students would use the chart to calculate their weight on other planets, based on their Earth weight.
o Provide different size balls to represent different sized planets. Here, the differently sized balls also represent planets of different masses. The purpose is to get across the idea that mass is related to gravity.
FOCUS QUESTION:
· What are the factors that affect the force of friction?
· How is pulling force related to the force of friction (when pulling at a steady rate)?
CONCEPTS:
· Friction is the force that resists motion between two surfaces in contact with each other.
· The force needed to move an object across a horizontal surface at a constant speed is equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction, to the force of friction.
· Frictional forces depend on the types of surfaces in contact.
· The frictional force on an object moving across a horizontal surface is directly proportional to the weight of the moving object.
· The frictional force on an object moving across a surface does not depend on the base area of the object in motion.
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSFriction
Sliding friction
Inertia / Frictional force
Push
Pull
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Force (do students know how to use a spring scale, the terms friction, Newtons, push, pull, etc.)
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
·
Curricular consideration:
· Set up microscopes to examine different surface types for Inquiry 6.1 (to see WHY the wooden block moves differently over different surfaces)
· Pulling the wooden block at a steady rate requires practice
· Double the length of surfaces
· Use a “group graph” on large piece of posted graph paper
· Use Inquiry 6.1 data for Inquiry 8.1
INQUIRY ALERT!
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
· Operationally define Force
· How to measure/read with a Newton spring scale, graph data
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
· Talk about calculating average. Ask students to explain what averages are.
· Put graph on a large graph poster with dots representing each group’s data. Examine patterns from the graph to discover how pulling force is related to the force of friction (when pulling at a steady rate).
FOCUS QUESTION:
· What are the operating conditions that produce the maximum force from a motor?
· What is the evidence that energy is being transformed and transferred in the system?
CONCEPTS:
· The arrangement of the batteries determines the performance of a motor.
· Motors exert forces and the forces can be measured.
· An experiment has both a independent and dependent variable
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSGravity Chemical Energy
Electricity Mechanical Energy
Electrical Energy
Motor
Force / Mechanical
Electrical
Gravitational force
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
· Difficult to fit motors in the clamps
· Pulleys don’t fit on the motors easily
· Teachers have reported that some motors burned out
· Perhaps have one day of set-up before doing the lab
Curricular consideration:
· Students may not have familiarity with series and parallel circuits (TOPS unit on electricity may be helpful…)
INQUIRY ALERT!
· Students design their own investigations and report out about which variables are most effective for producing the maximum force from a motor
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
· Have students diagram and label all the pieces in the system to show how energy is being transformed and transferred in the system
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
· Have students create their own “address book of unit words
· Create an “Energy, Machines, and Motion” picture book with definitions (see diagram below)
FOCUS QUESTION:
· What is the relationship between force applied and the work that is done?
CONCEPTS:
· Scientists define work as the product of a force times the distance over which that force acted.
· The metric unit of measure for work is the newton-meter, which is also called the joule.
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSWork
Force
Distance
Newton-meter
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Work
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
·
Curricular consideration:
· Show students a non-example (such as holding an object stationary) - where Work (Force times Distance) is NOT being done
· Students have difficulty transferring the calculations from the Student Sheet 8.1 chart to the real-life calculations for Student Sheet 8.2. Perhaps set up Inquiry 6.1 again for students to see as they perform the Inquiry 8.1 calculations.
INQUIRY ALERT!
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
Pre-assess
· Push or pull on something in class that will not move. Am I doing work?
Assess
· After Lesson 8, push or pull on something in class that will not move. Am I doing work? Did the students get it?
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
FOCUS QUESTION:
· How do scientists describe the term power?
CONCEPTS:
· Power is the rate at which work is done.
· Power is calculated by dividing the work done by the time to do the work.
· The watt is the common unit of measure for power.
· One watt is equivalent to one joule per second.
· Energy transformations take place when forces do work on objects.
· Power is a measure of the rate at which energy transformations take place.
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSWatt
Joule
Load
Energy
Transformation / Transfer
Transformation
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Power
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management:
·
Curricular consideration:
· Power is a topic conceptually beyond middle school, and is not necessary for developing middle school students’ understanding of energy. Therefore, if you decide to do this lesson, FOCUS ON THE READINGS to at least give students an awareness of what power is.
· Student guide, pg. 87, the first paragraph should read 1700’s, not 1800s.
· Some teachers have had Puget Sound Energy representatives come out to their classes to speak about power.
INQUIRY ALERT!
EVIDENCE OF STUDENT UNDERSTANDING
INTEGRATION with literacy, math, technology
FOCUS QUESTION:
· What energy changes allow a falling body to light a bulb?
CONCEPTS:
·
WORD BANK / WASL WORDSEnergy
Heat Energy
Kinetic
TransformationFrictional Force / Energy
Kinetic
Potential
Frictional force
Gravity
Weight / Transformation
Transfer
Gravitational Force
Heat
Heat energy
Energy of motion
WORKING DEFINITIONS / OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
HEADS UP! (Materials, Student Management and/or Curricular Considerations)
Materials Management: