Ready for action?
Resources
Downloadable Resources
Tangible Resources
Computer and large screen, template for ‘jumping animal’, rubber bands (no. 16)
Preparation
Make ‘jumping animal’ template/s out of cardboard
Goals, messages & concepts
Specific goals
- Generate enthusiasm about the topic of the Learning Scenario.
- Gain a basic understanding of the term ‘energy’.
Specific messages
- Energy is a measurable physical quantity that allows us to move, to move other things, and to change the shape, state, and even the temperature, of matter.
- The term ‘energy’ relates to a variety of familiar everyday ‘actions’.
- Without energy, no action can take place.
Main terms
- energy
- work
- action
- energy conversion
- kinetic energy
- potential energy
Practices & skills
STEM practices
- Developing and using models
- Asking questions and defining problems
- Planning and carrying out investigations
Soft skills
-Management skills
- Planning
- Use of resources
Course of activity
step 1
Show students a video of a Rube Goldberg machine and ask them to think about what the video is about.
step 2
Perform the following energy-intensive actions and ask students what they have in common?
- Throw a pen to a student
- Ask a student to jump on one leg
- Turn on a flashlight/light
step 3
To ascertain what they already know, students will think about what energy is and what types of energy exist. They will organise their answers by energy sources and types of energy. Afterwards, shoe students a presentation, newspapers, and relevant articles to engage them in the topic. Discuss:
- What is energy? (Capacity for doing work, total amount of energy neither increases nor decreases.)
- What do we need energy for?
- What can be done without energy?
step 4
This ‘jumping animal’ experiment is an activity which illustrates how energy conversions cause work (action) to take place. Students will build the model and analyse energy transitions through research and experimentation. They will fold the animal and stretch the rubber band, giving energy to the rubber band (like a spring). When the animal is placed on a surface, the stretched rubber band relaxes, releasing potential energy. As the potential energy transforms into kinetic energy, it causes the animal to jump (see video).