Download SLSN – Curriculum Topic Study – October 2009 Heat and

SLSN – Curriculum Topic Study – October 2009 Heat and Temperature
Section 1
Key Points
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Most of what goes in the universe involves energy transformation
Forms of energy can be described in different ways, e.g., sound, heat, etc.
Each form of energy can be measured
Transformations result in heat loss
Energy conversions can release or absorb energy
Heat flows from hot/warmer to cold/cooler, requires energy to reverse
Heat moves through convection, conduction, and radiation
Energy levels depend on the order and/or conduct of atoms
Heat is amount of atomic kinetic and potential energy, while temperature is based on the movement
of the molecules
When energy increases in one area, it is diminished in another (Conservation of Energy)
Energy cannot be created or destroyed
Energy can be converted from one form to another
If a material is not a conductor, it is an insulator
Order to disorder; motion
Randomness, probability; efficiency
Quantum – discrete amounts at quantum level, useful to characterize molecules
Nuclear vs. chemical
Forms of energy: sound, heat, gravitational, mechanical, light
Section 2
Elementary
Instructional Implications
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Students benefit from talking about heat before they can define it
They should spend time manipulation, observing, classifying, etc.
They should experiment with heat to show how it can be manipulated and controlled
Higher grades observe properties – boiling points, solubility, etc.
Identifying and addressing common misconceptions
Understanding should be the emphasis – vocabulary can come out of the understanding rather than
vice versa
Building scientific habits of thinking – e.g., “What makes it go?, “Where does the energy go?”
Middle School
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Trace where energy comes from
Observe several energy transfers
Confusion between energy and energy sources
Key Concepts: boiling, melting, solubility, chemical changes
Qualitative first, quantitative later
Heat and temperature distinction may not be worth the time
Misconception: energy “goes away” or is “used up”
Potential energy is important
High School
Instructional Implications
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Definitions and equations aren’t the big picture
Need experiences, not worksheet
Don’t have to name it to explain it (vocab. ins. in sci.)
Discuss energy before defining it
Importance of practical applications
Conservation of Energy is an important concept
Important to know “How do we know?”
Heat moves in predictable ways
Goes beyond science curriculum: ex. create a big bomb
Determining essential vocabulary
Importance of cause and effect
By HS, move to describe energy quantitatively
Ins. = always asking “Where did the energy come from?”, “Where did it go?”
Important to distinguish important terms (heat, temperature, thermal energy)
Vocab. and vernacular can trip kids up
Section 3
Elementary
Concepts and Ideas – K-4
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Properties of objects
States of matter
Relative location
Heat is produced by burning, mixing substances, and rubbing
Heat moves by conduction
Poor conductors can reduce heat loss
Objects that give off light often give off heat
Heat flows in a predictable way from warm to cool. Can flow through contact or across a distance.
Middle School
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Conservation of energy
Heat moves in predictable ways
Friction produces heat
Energy is a property
Sun is a major source of energy
Electrical circuits transfer energy when heat changes occur
Heat is nearly always a product
Different forms of energy
High School
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Total amount of energy is constant
Transfer of energy through collisions
Living systems need energy
Electrical circuits provide means of transfer into different forms
Energy released can identify specific molecules
Energy is transferred in discrete amounts
Matter becomes less ordered in transf. – less ordered, less useful – context
Classify energy as kinetic energy or potential energy
Fission and fusion
Increased temperature, increased motion
Energy transfers through ecosystems
Matter cycles, energy flows
Need to understand from macroscopic to sub-atomic
Conductors and semiconductors, flow
Section 4
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Different materials “have” different temperatures
Cold is transferred
Energy is “used up”
Energy is only associated with movement
Heat and temperature are the same
Heat is “fluid” – a substance
Cold is a “lack of heat”
Cold and heat are different phenomena
Metal gets hot because it “sucks in” heat
Energy trans. involve only one kind of energy
Anything below freezing must be “cold”
Mixing two different temperatures – cannot predict outcome (impossible to)