Lesson 2: Work and Energy
Working in co-operative groups, students will perform a task to calculate how much energy or work they do by running up a flight of stairs. They will be introduced to the International System of Units or SI of Joules and Kilojoules. They will use this knowledge to analyse the energy content of food and drink and evaluate their own food choices.
Students Prior Knowledge and Experience
Students have been exposed to the scientific concept of energy and work but are only assumed to have covered sources of energy.
Learning Purposes and Links to Learning Area Outcomes and Aspects
This lesson is linked to science learning outcome Energy and Change. This outcome states that “Students understand the scientific concept of energy and explain that energy is vital to our existence and to our quality of life." It is also linked to the science learning outcome Working Scientifically that refers to the skills and processes involved in science. These are; investigating, communicating scientifically, science in daily life, science in society and acting responsibly. (Department of Education and Training, 2008)
Preparation and Resources
Print off a class set of Activity Sheet 1 and 2. Find a flight of stairs or an embankment (where height can be measured) that students can run up during class. One stopwatch, one long tape measure or one long length of string (long enough to measure height of stairs) and one calculator per group. A selection of nutritional information panels for a variety of common processed foods one per student. An interactive white board with internet access.
Learning Experiences
Introduction
Have students seated in groups of 3 or 4. Recap definition of energy and show video clip of Energy and Work, (How Stuff Works, 2010).
Main Body of Lesson
Hand out Activity Sheet 1 and read through with the class. Go through class rules for experiments. Have students carry out exercise 1 on Activity Sheet 1, then return to class. Clarify any queries regarding work required and have students finish remainder of activity sheet (20 minutes). At the end of 20 minutes go through students answers to Activity Sheet 1 with the whole class. Hand out Activity Sheet 2 and nutritional information panels. Have groups work through Activity Sheet 2
(15 minutes).
Closure and Transition to Next Lesson
Once all students have finished Activity Sheet 2, start a class discussion about the amount of energy in the various foods and links to healthy eating. Find out which food had the highest energy in kJ. How long would it take to burn off this energy sitting still, running up stairs or swimming? What conclusions can be drawn from this? What does this mean for our diets? For homework, ask students to look at home and find the food with the most energy per 100g.
Student Evaluation
Activity Sheets will be placed in students’ science note books and a participation assessment rubric for group work may also be given to students.
Credits
Activity Sheet 1 modified with materials from Glimpses of Science (Connor,Ginges, Hatsidimitis, & Wolfe, 2010).
Activity Sheet 2 modified with materials from Glimpses of Science
(Connor, etal, 2010) and the Surfing Scientist (ABC Science Online, 2006).
Working in co-operative groups, students will perform a task to calculate how much energy or work they do by running up a flight of stairs. They will be introduced to the International System of Units or SI of Joules and Kilojoules. They will use this knowledge to analyse the energy content of food and drink and evaluate their own food choices.
Students Prior Knowledge and Experience
Students have been exposed to the scientific concept of energy and work but are only assumed to have covered sources of energy.
Learning Purposes and Links to Learning Area Outcomes and Aspects
This lesson is linked to science learning outcome Energy and Change. This outcome states that “Students understand the scientific concept of energy and explain that energy is vital to our existence and to our quality of life." It is also linked to the science learning outcome Working Scientifically that refers to the skills and processes involved in science. These are; investigating, communicating scientifically, science in daily life, science in society and acting responsibly. (Department of Education and Training, 2008)
Preparation and Resources
Print off a class set of Activity Sheet 1 and 2. Find a flight of stairs or an embankment (where height can be measured) that students can run up during class. One stopwatch, one long tape measure or one long length of string (long enough to measure height of stairs) and one calculator per group. A selection of nutritional information panels for a variety of common processed foods one per student. An interactive white board with internet access.
Learning Experiences
Introduction
Have students seated in groups of 3 or 4. Recap definition of energy and show video clip of Energy and Work, (How Stuff Works, 2010).
Main Body of Lesson
Hand out Activity Sheet 1 and read through with the class. Go through class rules for experiments. Have students carry out exercise 1 on Activity Sheet 1, then return to class. Clarify any queries regarding work required and have students finish remainder of activity sheet (20 minutes). At the end of 20 minutes go through students answers to Activity Sheet 1 with the whole class. Hand out Activity Sheet 2 and nutritional information panels. Have groups work through Activity Sheet 2
(15 minutes).
Closure and Transition to Next Lesson
Once all students have finished Activity Sheet 2, start a class discussion about the amount of energy in the various foods and links to healthy eating. Find out which food had the highest energy in kJ. How long would it take to burn off this energy sitting still, running up stairs or swimming? What conclusions can be drawn from this? What does this mean for our diets? For homework, ask students to look at home and find the food with the most energy per 100g.
Student Evaluation
Activity Sheets will be placed in students’ science note books and a participation assessment rubric for group work may also be given to students.
Credits
Activity Sheet 1 modified with materials from Glimpses of Science (Connor,Ginges, Hatsidimitis, & Wolfe, 2010).
Activity Sheet 2 modified with materials from Glimpses of Science
(Connor, etal, 2010) and the Surfing Scientist (ABC Science Online, 2006).
Image: Michal Marcol at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
