FOSS Pathways Energy Collection, Grade 4

Description

The Energy Module has four investigations that focus on the concepts that energy is present whenever there is motion, electric current, sound, light, or heat, and that energy can transfer from one place to other. Five anchor phenomena drive the investigations.

• Anchor phenomenon 1—solar lights working and not working
• Anchor phenomenon 2—sending and receiving text messages
• Anchor phenomenon 3—knocking down bowling pins
• Anchor phenomenon 4—unable to see during power outage
• Anchor phenomenon 5—moving up and down

Students investigate electricity and magnetism as related effects and engage in engineering design to convert energy from one form to another. They gather information about how energy is derived from natural resources and how that affects the environment and explore alternative sources of energy such as solar energy. They investigate how the amount of energy transfer changes when balls of different masses hit a stationary object. Students explore energy transfer through waves (repeating patterns of motion) that result in sound and motion. Students interpret data to build explanations from evidence and make predictions of future events. They develop models to represent how energy moves from place to place in electric circuits and in waves. Students gain experiences that will contribute to the understanding of crosscutting concepts of patterns; cause and effect; systems and system models; and energy and matter.