In Claire Eckert and Katrina Smith’s class at Cottage Lane Elementary School, fourth graders are exploring energy transfers as part of their Energy and Waves science unit.
Students have already learned how to build simple electrical circuits and test materials for conductivity. They experimented with tone and hand generators, as well as ice, rubber bands and plastic cups. As they operated each system, groups worked to identify the energy source and observe evidence of energy transfer, such as electrical to mechanical and heat to light.
“This activity is based on providing students with engaging phenomena to ‘hook’ them into the next part of our unit. Once they learn more over the course of the lessons ahead, we’ll return to this activity and they’ll be able to explain the phenomena,” explained K-8 Instructional Science Coach Samantha Levine.