Title – What is Energy?

By – Sunitha Howard

Primary Subject – Science

Grade Level – 6-8

Standard: 4

Instructional Objective:

Students will be able to discuss and recognize energy.

Do Now:

Regents Exam June 2002 # 33 (

optional

)

Motivation:

Brainpop Video on Energy

Delivery of Instruction:

1. Go over Do Now exercise

2. Ask students the following riddle: What is the mover of matter?

3. After listing to student responses, if energy is not one of the responses, have a student run around the room and ask students what “moved” him or her

4. Elicit from students what energy means to them

5. Go over and discuss some main points regarding energy on the board:

   • energy is what makes matter move or change
     
   • energy is the ability to do work
     
   • energy can be classified as:
     1. Potential or stored energy which converts to
     2. Kinetic or energy of motion

     Example: Bow and arrow (
     
     bow does work on arrow when you release it, arrow does work on target when it hits
     
     )

6. Discuss with students the different forms of energy:
   • chemical (
     
     stored in food
     
     )
   • electrical (
     
     power plants, batteries
     
     )
   • light (
     
     sun
     
     )
   • mechanical (
     
     wind, moving water, sound waves, etc.
     
     )
   • thermal (
     
     vibrating atoms
     
     )
   • nuclear (
     
     released inside atoms when they are broken or fused together
     
     )

Closure:

Brainpop video quiz (


www.brainpop.com


)

Extended Practice:

Discuss how energy plays a role in a baseball game (

be sure to include the players and the ball as well as the spectators

).

E-Mail

Sunitha Howard

!