Students’ Background and Readiness

Many students demonstrated interest in this subject before the onset of the unit while interacting with introductory texts, such as course readers meant to familiarize them with important vocabulary.  Students were also encouraged to research this topic further on their own time, or any related topic (such as one student who enjoys astronomy offering to research how energy operates in space) so that they could share what they learned, as well as any articles, videos, or other resources with their class.  Students were introduced to several key vocabulary words, previous to the onset of our experimentation, discussion, and writing.  As the concepts we studied were inherent in so many aspects of our daily lives, I anticipated that students were ready to discuss several given examples of kinetic energy (such as a car in motion), as well as come up with their own examples to share with the class.  Throughout this unit, my students worked together as a learning community to share observations, create experiments, and come to conclusions in order to develop their understanding of the relationship between energy and speed, the ways energy transfers between objects, and the use of various energy resources in our society.

Student Development

In order to complete the tasks in this unit, students needed to have the ability to hold thoughtful and nuanced conversations about the results of their experiments, as well as their experience with energy in their everyday lives.  They needed to be respectful of each others’ ideas throughout these discussions.  Additionally, students needed to be careful throughout the in-person experiments, and they needed to have the physical dexterity to pull the pull-back cars back different amounts as requested by the teacher (i.e. “pull the car back slightly” and “pull the car back as far as you can”).  They also needed skills in evidence based writing for the latter portion of the unit about renewable and nonrenewable resources.  I began this unit with confidence that my students were capable of all of the above.

Student Needs

Due to the limitations posed by remote learning, I ensured that all students were able to participate in all aspects of this unit from their own homes.  As such, all of my experiments were either virtual or used items found in the science packets distributed to students by the Worcester Public schools.  Any other items used are common household objects, such as a glass of water. Because students were not be able to collaborate on the actual experiments, I included Google Jamboards where they could share their findings and come to common conclusions about energy.  Students also needed to hear the scientific terminology that is taught in this unit repeated frequently in conversation so that they could incorporate those words into their vocabulary and understand their full meaning.

Research and Evidence Based Powerful Learning Practices

I incorporated the 5 E model of teaching science, which includes the components of engaging, exploring, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating a scientific concept.  Students first engaged with examples of speed and energy, and then explored energy by thinking about what they already know, tinkering with tools, and performing experiments to experience how different factors contribute to the levels of kinetic energy exerted by an object.  Students explained their observations in order to come to conclusions about the nature of energy, and elaborated on their observations by questioning and experimenting with how energy is transferred between objects.  Then, through a fun and interactive game of Jeopardy, a quiz, and several written assessments throughout the unit, we evaluated what we have learned!

In the second half of the unit, which primarily focused on renewable and nonrenewable resources, students accumulated evidence about various resources after viewing and interacting with videos and articles.  Evidence of resources, how they work, and their benefits were compiled in an “Energy Sources Pros and Cons Chart” that was created as a class.  Students then used the evidence they assembled to aid in writing an opinion based letter about renewable and nonrenewable resources.