Unit Overview

Students investigate energy existing in multiple forms (light, heat, electrical, motion, sound) transferring between types. Through solving twin communication mysteries using energy forms or exploring magnetism and invisible forces, rotating through five energy stations investigating electrical circuits and sound waves, and constructing Rube Goldberg machines demonstrating chain reaction energy transfers with labeled blueprints, students master how energy travels through space and matter.

• Next Generation Science Standards

  4-PS3-1

  Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measures of changes in the speed of an object or on any precise or quantitative definition of energy.

  4-PS3-2

  Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy.]

  4-PS3-3

  Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the change in the energy due to the change in speed, not on the forces, as objects interact.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy.]

  4-PS3-4

  Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include electric circuits that convert electrical energy into motion energy of a vehicle, light, or sound; and, a passive solar heater that converts light into heat. Examples of constraints could include the materials, cost, or time to design the device.] [Assessment Boundary: Devices should be limited to those that convert motion energy to electric energy or use stored energy to cause motion or produce light or sound.]

  4-PS4-1

  Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models could include diagrams, analogies, and physical models using wire to illustrate wavelength and amplitude of waves.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include interference effects, electromagnetic waves, non periodic waves, or quantitative models of amplitude and wavelength.]

  4-PS4-2

  Develop a model to describe that light reflecting from objects and entering the eye allows objects to be seen. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include knowledge of specific colors reflected and seen, the cellular mechanisms of vision, or how the retina works.]

  4-PS4-3

  Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns to transfer information.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of solutions could include drums sending coded information through sound waves, using a grid of 1’s and 0’s representing black and white to send information about a picture, and using Morse code to send text.]

• Inquiry Scale
  • Each lesson in the unit has an Inquiry Scale that provides directions on how to implement the lesson at the level that works best for you and your students.
  • “Level 1” is the most teacher-driven, and recommended for students in 4th-5th grades. “Level 4” is the most student-driven, and recommended for students in 7th-8th grades.
  • For differentiation within the same grade or class, use different inquiry levels for different groups of students who may require additional support or an extra challenge.
• Common Misconceptions
  • Students may not have considered that there are many forms of energy. Remind students that energy can take various forms including sound, heat, light, motion, electrical, and more.
  • Students may believe that energy is a force. Energy and force are related. Energy is the ability to do work, and work is done when a force is used to change the position of an object.
  • Students may think that all energy is affirmed by observing movement. Remind students that objects that are not moving may have potential energy, or stored energy, like in batteries or in a pile driver in a high position.