OpenSciEd Unit 6.2 · Lesson 18 · 18.A
Look for: Energy transfer speeds up with more contact a…
From Teacher Edition
Facilitation guidance from the lesson plan — what to notice in student thinking and how to respond while teaching.
Building towards
18.A Develop a model based on patterns in performance that can be used to predict ways to minimize or maximize energy transfer into or out of a variety of systems.
What to look / listen for
Students to share scientific principles related to the following:
- Energy transfer speeds up with more contact and slows down with less contact; thus, energy transfer happens faster within and between solids and slower within and between gases.
- Energy transfer speeds up with more light absorption and slows down with less light absorption.
- The amount of matter and type of matter that is warming up or cooling down affects how fast energy transfer happens and how much energy is needed.
These scientific principles may look like the following design features in students’ models:
- Solids transfer energy well, while thick solids transfer energy slower than thin solids.
- Air does not transfer energy well, so materials with air pockets and layers with air between will slow energy transfer.
- More solid surface area in contact means more opportunities to transfer energy through particle collisions.
- Dark materials and less reflective materials absorb more light faster than light and reflective materials.
What to do
Circulate around the room as students construct their generalized models. Use the following question prompts to help students in their thinking:
What type of matter is the object made of, and does this facilitate particle collisions?
How much matter (thickness) does the energy need to transfer through to get into or out of the system?
How reflective, transmissive, or absorptive is the material?
How much matter is needed to stay warm or cold? Or how much matter do we need to warm up or cool down?