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Lesson Plan 4 Thursday, April 3

rd

Objective: Study how energy is exchanged between PE & KE.
Equipment and Preparation: I need to build and a paper roller coaster at my home in my spare time and then
sneak it inside my classroom. I need something to conceal it as I want to surprise my students. I can either just buy a
large piece of cardboard to conceal it or I could find a small cart and hide it in the little science closet.
I need to find a video, java, or widget applet on the web that shows the roller coaster with KE & PE bars. When you
press play you can see the KE + PE bars go up and down in the opposite direction during the roller coaster trip.
In this case I will use the java applet found at http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/ntnujava/index.php?topic=1088
What the teacher does What the students do
(as told from their perspective)
Purpose, expectations, assessment,
reminders, obstacles
Start off the class with good news: I
have a small surprise for you. Can you
guess what it is?
Roll out the completed
paper roller coaster.
They wonder what the surprise is.
Some think: I hope this prize is not
corny or something silly
Some students will go ooohh and
awww when they see the roller
coaster.
Make sure to get a couple of guesses
from the students.
I want to get the students attention
and focus. Mystery is good at
accomplishing this.
Ask the students to get in pairs and
ask them to think what is the biggest
roller coaster they have ever rode in
their life.
Students must recall what and where
they rode the coaster. Others will not
have gone on one because they
didn't have the opportunity, were
scared, or indifferent.
I am just trying to establish the mood
as this question doesn't serve any
strict pedagogical purpose. Getting
people interested in coasters is
important though because I will be
making use of the coaster analogy to
talk about the PE + KE of a closed
energy system very frequently.
Bring up the answers from yesterday's
exit slip. Ask them if anyone recalls
how they can calculate the energy
that was transferred into the heating
oil.
I will ask them to find someone in the
room who agrees with their answer.
Many students will be confused and
think this question is too hard.
Others will think: Well I know that we
converted mechanical energy into
heat energy and this was determined
by how far and how heavy my
weights were.
I will wait for students to think and
then shuffle around, asking other
people if they had the same idea or
answer.
I will get feedback from a couple of
groups and see if they have the right
idea. If they do I will ask them to
explain to the class.
I will mention that Joule's apparatus
was all about converting mechanical
energy into heat energy. I will say that
we when we threw the cans over the
2
nd
floor balcony that is when we
were using mechanical energy to
turn the red paddle.
I will say Very quickly, what do you
think determines the amount of
energy that was converted into
heat? Imagine you can change
anything in the experiment..the
buildings itself...the supplies...how
would you get more energy? Discuss
this with your partner for a minute.
Students must try to think what
determines the amount of energy
that is converted.
Some will think:
If I was on the 1
st
floor and a soup
can fell down on me I hope it didn't
fall from a tall height and it didn't
weight that much...heeyyy...I think I
am on to something.
I am trying to get the students to
actively construct the meaning of PE
and KE without using those words yet.
My belief is that it is a very intuitive
concept to understand but it get losts
when we start throwing formulas and
definitions at them too quickly.
I will solicit answers from individual
students.
At this point I will be at the smart
board and I will write a m for mass
when a student mentions that we
could get more energy if we used a
heavier soup can or one with greater
mass.
I will write an h for height when a
student mentions that if Leo Hayes
had a third floor it would be even
bettter.
I will ask about gravity and say does it
make a difference if we throw a can
from the moon or one from earth?
At this point I will the PE = mgh.
Students will follow along
concentrating.
I get the m, g, and h part but
why do we multiply them all
together?
I think the students will understand the
m and h part.
I am trying to give them an intuitive
basis and a step to understand what
PE is.
I will say PE stands for Potential
Energy but what is it really?
A student thinks: My parents always
say I don't use my potential meaning
that I have power and energy to
accomplish something but I haven't
activated it yet.
I am expecting some students to
struggle with the concept of PE
because it is not active. KE can be
visualized...a moving object but PE is
a little more abstract and hidden.
Ask for some responses from the
students. Clarify that PE is the amount
of energy that is waiting to be
released but hasn't yet be released.
So what happens to the can's PE as
it falls down to the ground?
Some students will think As the can
gets closer to the ground is it losing it's
PE? It seems to be more active
though since it would hurt me more
the faster it falls!
Keep on asking for ideas from the
student and encourage them to walk
around and share with other people
to see if they agree.
Clarify that as the can falls down it is
losing height and thus it's potential
energy is decreasing but it is moving
faster and has more active or KE.
Then I will write two questions on the
smartboard:
1) What happens to the PE as the KE
goes up? Likewise what happens to
the PE as the KE goes down?
2) Does 'PE + KE have any special
attribute?
Please write down your answer and
then talk to two other people in the
room to see if they agree with you.
Students concentrate and try to
determine the relationship between
these two quantities.
Many think: I know that when one
term goes up the other must go down
but I don't understand why we should
add them.
Others may recall how energy is not
created or destroyed and think
Could PE kind of being transferred as
well into KE...If this was the case it
would mean that the sum always has
to add up to the same number.
Since the conservation of energy is
the key idea of this whole unit I am
trying to use scaffolding to make the
students construct their own answer.
If they don't get this concept the
whole unit is going to be very hard for
them.
Stress that KE + PE = a constant...in this
case the constant is the initial PE
before the can starts falling to the
floor.
Bring up a roller
coaster applet
on the
smart board
which demonstrates this visually.
Students will look at the PE and KE
bars on the left side of the screen as
the roller coaster goes up and down
and get to see the relationship
very carefully.
Make sure to point out the black bar
is always constant and represents the
Total Energy (TE) of the system. Also
should write on the board that
TE = KE + PE
Now I will say Fact: In the real world
the, the KE + PE or the Pink bar + the
blue bar will not always add up to the
black bar...why?
Get students to talk with each other
and try to figure out a reason.
For a clue ask them how it is possible
that the roller coaster example with
the spring at the end goes on
forever?!
Will ask some student pairs and they
should realize that friction in the real
world would prevent the coaster from
going on forever.
Students compare their reasoning
and ideas with each other.
Encourage the students to think for
themselves and not be afraid to
suggest answers.
Ask students to get in pairs or groups
of three and go to one of the
classroom computers or their own
device and open up the gizmo
applet that explores Joule's
apparatus.
Some students think: Oh great I love
working on computers more than
conducting experiments.
Others think: I'm tired of this silly Joule
device.
Monitor the students as they play and
explore with the virtual lab of Joule's
appartus.
For wrap get the students to tuck all
the chairs by the computers and desk
and tell them that tomorrow we will
learn about work and that it is
much different from our common
everyday meaning.
Students clean up the room and
prepare to leave.
Ensure that everything is in order and
survey the students to see if they
have any questions.
Gizmo in action - Joules experiment
Sample assessment questions that gizmo app asks - I can peak over the
shoulders of students and use this a formative assessment tool

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