Second Semester
Unit 4: Energy & Heat
approximate duration: 4 weeks
This material can be found in the textbook in Unit 4
Unit 3: Waves & Light
approximate duration: 4 weeks
In textbook, this material can be found in Unit 3
Learning Goals
The student will be able to:
Common Misconceptions
Make sure you understand and know WHY that these are all FALSE...
Visible light is not made up of a spectrum of different colors because it looks white.
All waves move the same way.
Waves stop when they hit a solid surface.
Different colors of light are different types of waves.
Ultrasounds are extremely loud sounds.
Sound travels in a beam, in one direction, like a flashlight.
Matter moves along with waves as the waves through the medium.
Sounds cannot travel through liquids and solids.
Sounds made by vehicles (e.g. sirens) change as the vehicles move past the listener because something/someone purposely changes the pitch of the sound.
The speed of light never changes.
The student will be able to:
- recognize that light and sound energy move in the form of waves, however light waves do not require a medium within which to travel
- explain how waves move at different speeds through different mediums:
- illustrate how energy arrives to Earth from the Sun
- differentiate the variety and types of radiation present from the Sun, including:
- investigate with a prism the colors that compose white light (ROYGBIV)
- identify the parts of a wave on a diagram, including:
- differentiate between frequency and wavelength
- investigate different ways light can be reflected, refracted, and/or absorbed
- cite examples when light is reflected, refracted, and/or absorbed
- compare how light is absorbed between lighter and darker objects
- explain why objects appear specific colors
Common Misconceptions
Make sure you understand and know WHY that these are all FALSE...
Visible light is not made up of a spectrum of different colors because it looks white.
All waves move the same way.
Waves stop when they hit a solid surface.
Different colors of light are different types of waves.
Ultrasounds are extremely loud sounds.
Sound travels in a beam, in one direction, like a flashlight.
Matter moves along with waves as the waves through the medium.
Sounds cannot travel through liquids and solids.
Sounds made by vehicles (e.g. sirens) change as the vehicles move past the listener because something/someone purposely changes the pitch of the sound.
The speed of light never changes.
Learning Goals
The Student will be able to:
- differentiate between potential and kinetic energy
- identify and describe the transformation of energy from one form to another, such as:
sound, thermal, electrical, chemical, thermal, electrical, light
- cite examples of multiple energy transformations
- investigate transformations, such as:
- apply the Law of Conservation of Energy to determine where energy transformations occur on a diagram, such as:
- investigate the Law of Conservation of Energy to show how energy is not lost but transformed as heat because of friction
- describe heat as the flow of thermal energy from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both objects reach the same temperature
- predict and investigate the direction thermal energy flows on a diagram
- describe the concept of specific heat (no calculations) as related to conductors and insulators
- predict and investigate the possible change in temperature (oC) when heat is added or removed from a system
- predict and investigate the possible change in state of matter when heat is added or removed from a system
- create an experiment to test the relationship between temperature and the state of matter
Common Misconceptions
Make sure you understand that these statements are FALSE, and why...
- Cold is transferred from one object to another.
- Changing the temperature always causes matter to change state.
- Heat and temperature are the same thing.
- Earth gets heat from the Sun.
- Temperature is how hot or cold an object is.
- Heat energy is lost energy.
- Energy and force are interchangeable terms.
- An object at rest has no energy.
- We are running out of energy.
- Frozen objects don’t have any thermal energy.
Unit 5: Energy, Motion, and Forces
approximate duration: 4 weeks
This material can be found in the textbook in Unit 5
Learning Goals
The Student will be able to:
The Student will be able to:
- describe and cite examples of the Law of Conservation of Energy
- differentiate between kinetic and potential energy
- identify and demonstrate energy transformation from kinetic to potential energy and vice versa
- utilize a two or three-dimensional model to investigate kinetic and potential energy.
- demonstrate how the properties of atomic nuclei are responsible for energy-related phenomena such as radioactivity, fission and fusion.
- understand that changes in entropy and energy that accompany chemical reactions influence reaction paths. Chemical reactions result in the release or absorption of energy.
- describe how the theory of electromagnetism explains that electricity and magnetism are closely related. Electric charges are the source of electric fields.
- Moving charges generate magnetic fields.
- demonstrate that waves are the propagation of a disturbance. They transport energy and momentum but do not transport matter.
- measure and graph distance versus time for an object moving at a constant speed
- analyze and interpret graphs and data tables of distance and time for an object moving at a constant speed
- compare and interpret data of no more than five objects moving at constant speed
- investigate and describe types of forces, including: 1. Forces at a distance: electrical, magnetic, and gravitational 2. Contact forces: normal, applied, friction
- investigate and explain how an unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion (or both)
- explore the Law of Gravity by recognizing that every object exerts gravitational force on every other object and that force depends on how much mass the objects have and how far apart they are
- investigate and explain how an unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion (or both)