(5-8) H3

Science Curriculum Preview Committee Clarification of Learning Results

Revised 06/29/04

5-8

H3: Compare and contrast the ways energy travels (e.g. waves, conduction, convection, radiation).

Curriculum Organizing Questions

How is energy moving in this system? (From what areas and through what type of process?)

What are some ways that each of the types of energy movement affect your daily lives?

What kinds of movement allow energy to pass through empty space? Between solids?

Elaboration
Experience with many different systems where energy is moving, and opportunity to improve their understanding of energy by experiencing many different kinds of transfer is the goal at this level.

Specific Ideas

Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature.NSES B3b.

Heat can be transferred through the collisions of atoms (conduction).Benchmarks 4E3.

If a material is fluid (liquid or gas), currents will be set up in it that aid the transfer of heat (convection).Benchmarks 4E3.

Convection is not so much an independent means of heat transfer as it is an aid to transfer of heat by conduction and radiation. Benchmarks p.85.

Heat can be transferred across space without a medium (radiation).Benchmarks 4E3.

Radiant energy (radiation) travels in the form of electromagnetic waves (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays). NSES B6b (9-12).

Vibrations in materials set up wavelike disturbances that spread away from the source. Sound, water, and earthquake (seismic) waves are examples. Waves travel at different speeds in different materials.Benchmarks 4F4.

Developmental & Instructional Implications
Children often hold a considerable number of misconceptions about light that may affect instruction. Driver et al offer a detailed discussion of children's difficulties with the ideas associated with light on pages 128-132.

Research shows that the idea that heat is the energy of random motion and vibrating molecules is difficult for students to understand.NSES p. 178.

Heat energy is a difficult idea for students, who thoroughly confound it with the idea of temperature. Children may not recognize temperature as a physical parameter that can describe the condition of a material. There may be misconceptions about the idea of temperature and how to measure it. For an extensive discussion of misconceptions about temperature and heat. See Driver et al pages 138-142.

See pages 143-147 in Driver et al for a detailed description of children's ideas about energy.

Examples

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Curriculum Organizing Questions	How is energy moving in this system? (From what areas and through what type of process?) What are some ways that each of the types of energy movement affect your daily lives? What kinds of movement allow energy to pass through empty space? Between solids?
Elaboration	Experience with many different systems where energy is moving, and opportunity to improve their understanding of energy by experiencing many different kinds of transfer is the goal at this level.
Specific Ideas	Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature.NSES B3b. Heat can be transferred through the collisions of atoms (conduction).Benchmarks 4E3. If a material is fluid (liquid or gas), currents will be set up in it that aid the transfer of heat (convection).Benchmarks 4E3. Convection is not so much an independent means of heat transfer as it is an aid to transfer of heat by conduction and radiation. Benchmarks p.85. Heat can be transferred across space without a medium (radiation).Benchmarks 4E3. Radiant energy (radiation) travels in the form of electromagnetic waves (radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays). NSES B6b (9-12). Vibrations in materials set up wavelike disturbances that spread away from the source. Sound, water, and earthquake (seismic) waves are examples. Waves travel at different speeds in different materials.Benchmarks 4F4.
Developmental & Instructional Implications	Children often hold a considerable number of misconceptions about light that may affect instruction. Driver et al offer a detailed discussion of children's difficulties with the ideas associated with light on pages 128-132. Research shows that the idea that heat is the energy of random motion and vibrating molecules is difficult for students to understand.NSES p. 178. Heat energy is a difficult idea for students, who thoroughly confound it with the idea of temperature. Children may not recognize temperature as a physical parameter that can describe the condition of a material. There may be misconceptions about the idea of temperature and how to measure it. For an extensive discussion of misconceptions about temperature and heat. See Driver et al pages 138-142. See pages 143-147 in Driver et al for a detailed description of children's ideas about energy.
Examples