Big Idea 10: Forms of Energy

Students set up an experiment and gather data to investigate the melting of solid water.

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Water. This is a themed unit ofSaM-1's adventures while on a Beach Vacation.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx.

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Type: Lesson Plan

Students learn water can change state of matter through the addition or removal of heat. Students will learn that water can condense, melt and evaporate.

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Water. This is a themed unit ofSaM-1's adventures while on a Beach Vacation.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx.

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Type: Lesson Plan

Students will create line graphs from the collected data on the temperature of shaded and non-shaded sand from the previous lesson. Students will use the data and graphs as evidence to make conclusions on if the shading had an impact on sand temperature. This lesson could also be taught using Math instructional time.

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Properties. This is a themed unit of SaM-1's adventures at the CPALMS Rehabilitation and Conservation Center.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx .

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will set up the lab investigation that they planned in the previous lesson and collect data on the temperature of shaded and non-shaded sand. This lesson could also be taught using Math instructional time. 

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Properties. This is a themed unit of SaM-1's adventures at the CPALMS Rehabilitation and Conservation Center.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx .

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will use their listening and writing skills to watch a video to learn about sea turtles, preparing them for an investigation in subsequent lessons. This lesson could also be taught using ELA instructional time. 

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Properties. This is a themed unit of SaM-1's adventures at the CPALMS Rehabilitation and Conservation Center.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx .

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will use their listening and writing skills to watch a video to learn about sea turtles, preparing them for subsequent lessons in the unit. This lesson could also be taught using ELA instructional time. 

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Properties. This is a themed unit of SaM-1's adventures at the CPALMS Rehabilitation and Conservation Center.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx .

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will investigate light (science standard for third grade) through exploration of light stations. Students will design a product that will allow for light to reflect, refract, and be absorbed in an engineering design challenge titled “Magic Box” that breaks the rule of light traveling in a straight path. Students will design a box that allows for the light to enter the box, will travel through the box and out an exit.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will explore forces, mechanical energy by engineering their own vehicles utilizing via the engineering design process.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this engineering design challenge, student teams will design a house that will withstand high winds.

Type: Lesson Plan

During this activity, students will create an incubator to save the last dinosaur eggs. Students will use their knowledge of energy to develop a strategy and choose which materials would be best for their dinosaur egg incubator.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), Sunny Land Developing is about to develop a new community in Florida. Students are needed to make suggestions for the company's choice of energy to integrate into the new homes. In this activity, students will review how people use electricity in their daily lives and learn about the differences between renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. Students will also be introduced to sound energy and how it is measured.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), the students will demonstrate an understanding of how light travels and its ability to reflect, refract, and be absorbed. Hang ten, surfers! Get ready for the Super Surfers surfing competition! They will also work collaboratively to express their opinions, while considering those of their peers.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), a student engineering team is asked by a wheel manufacturer to investigate and develop a plan to select the best model of roller blades.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about heat through a video, a kinesthetic activity and summarizing informational text. This lesson can be completed in two 40 minute time period or over two days. Students will be able to demonstrate and explain the way heat moves from one object to another.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will learn about some of the behaviors of light, specifically refraction, through a video, a kinesthetic activity and summarizing informational text. Students will be able explain what causes a shadow by understanding the way light travels as well as explain refraction of light. This lesson can be completed in two 40 minute time periods or over two days.

Type: Lesson Plan

This Engineering Design Challenge is intended to help students apply the concepts of force , the concept of wind energy, and practice working with a budget as they build structures to withstand the force of high-speed winds. The first day's lesson also provides practice in recognizing and drawing shapes. It is not intended as an initial introduction to these concepts.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read about different forms of energy to find the central idea and relevant details in informational text. Included with the lesson is an anticipation guide to assess prior knowledge and a list of suggested texts to choose from so that teachers can use the texts that fit their students best.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn about energy causing motion and change through examining the the text structures of cause and effect relationships and sequence of events.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students are fascinated with light. In this lesson plan, students investigate some of the properties of how light is propagated, and using observations from simple experiments, test their predictions about the paths that light takes with different materials.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will be able to identify characteristics of sound energy, such as pitch and volume. This lesson can be completed in one 45 minute time period or over two days. Students will learn about sound through video, a hands on project and summarizing informational text.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan covers the concept that energy from the sun reaches Earth in the form of heat and light. It incorporates concepts from Earth and Physical Science.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA, students will have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of investigating the natural world, sources of energy, measuring, keeping records, graphing, and communicating information. Students will develop a hypothesis, design an experiment, and support their reasoning to determine how to best study different methods for cooling sea turtle nesting areas. In the optional part 2, students will carry out the experiment that they designed in part 1 and collect data to determine if their hypotheses are supported. 

This is a lesson in the Grade 3 Physical Science Unit on Properties. This is a themed unit of SaM-1's adventures at the CPALMS Rehabilitation and Conservation Center.  To see all the lessons in the unit please visit https://www.cpalms.org/page818.aspx .

Type: Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) STEM Lesson

In this video Sam-1 introduces a Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) challenge. Students will take their prior experiences from the properties unit and apply their knowledge of investigating sea turtle nesting temperatures.

Students will develop a hypothesis, design an experiment, and support their reasoning to determine how to best study different methods for cooling sea turtle nesting areas.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this SaM-1 video, students will use their listening and writing skills to watch a video to learn about the affects temperature has on sea turtles' nests, preparing them for an investigation in subsequent lessons within the unit.  

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this SaM-1 video, students will use their listening and writing skills to learn about sea turtles, preparing them for subsequent lessons in the unit.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how to identify explicit evidence and understand the meaning of heat, light and sound energy around the campfire in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

When your classroom is the open ocean, which is the longest period? The one from the tsunami.

Related Resources:
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: GPS Data Set[.XLSX]
KROS Pacific Ocean Kayak Journey: Path Visualization for Google Earth[.KML]

Download the CPALMS Perspectives video student note taking guide.

Type: Perspectives Video: Professional/Enthusiast

This website provides information and resources for teachers seeking to make learning about energy fun and exciting for students. Renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy are well organized and supplemented with diagrams, maps, and graphs. Other sections include fun facts about energy, games & activities, history, and classroom activities. This resource was developed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Type: Resource Collection

This activity features a wind-up boat which uses the stored energy of a rubber band to motor around a bathtub or any other body of water you choose to use!

Type: Teaching Idea

In this activity, students are challenged to put a mirror on the wall, cover it, and find locations where they think they can see each other in the mirror. Through the activity, students find that light reflects at an equal angle as it arrives. Students then can explore a Java applet that demonstrates that the angle at which light is reflected is equal to the angle at which it arrives.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this activity, a black bottle, white bottle, and balloons are used to demonstrate the effect that color has on the amount of solar thermal energy absorbed (potentially inflating the balloon). With this understanding, students will color a picture (included) in colors that will absorb less and/or more solar energy.

Type: Teaching Idea

This resource provides basic information about electricity, most importantly that electricity is neither a renewable or non-renewable resource.

Type: Text Resource

In this unit, students first explore the different forms of energy using their senses. In the next two lessons, emphasis is placed on light energy and how light interacts with other objects.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Students conduct a series of activities to better understand solar energy and the broader concept of the sun as an energy source. Some of the activities include: observing how heat energy blows up a balloon, launching a solar air balloon, and making a solar oven.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Star Light, Star Bright explores the nature of the electromagnetic spectrum. In a series of four mini-lessons, the different properties of waves and the relationship that exists between energy, wavelength, and frequency will be covered. Activities are "Catch the Waves", "Making Waves", "Heating Up", and "Stellar Encounters." Be sure to view the brain teasers and light facts on each page.

Type: Virtual Manipulative