Author:
Rachel Ostler
Subject:
Science
Material Type:
Lesson
Level:
Upper Elementary
Tags:
  • Lesson Plan
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Education Standards

    Forms of Energy

    Overview

    This is a science lesson plan for introducing upper elementary students to the different forms of energy.

    Summary

    This is a 30 minute face-to-face science lesson for upper elementary grades to introduce students to the different forms of energy.

    Background for Teachers

    To teach this lesson, you will need an understanding of how molecular movement is related to temperature, and how temperature can be measured. You will need to know the following key vocabulary terms before teaching this lesson: thermometer, thermal energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, energy conversion, molecules, and heat. The following resources can help you teach this topic:

    Step 1 - Goals and Outcomes

    Step 1 Goals and Outcomes

    Learning Intentions:

    • Students will be able to understand how energy can be transferred from place to place by electrical currents, heat, sound, or light. 

    Success Criteria:

    • Students will describe the different forms of energy and draw an example of each form.

    Step 2 - Planning Instruction

    Step 2 Planning Instruction

    Student Background Knowledge

    Prior to this lesson, students will need to have an understanding that various forms of energy exist. Students will be placed in partners and given a set of cards with pictures representing different forms of energy. These pictures will be of common everyday objects that the students have seen before to help activate their background knowledge. With their partner, they will be given a few minutes to sort the cards into groups they come up with together. Partnerships will then be given the opportunity to share out how they sorted their cards and why they sorted them the way they did. 

    Strategies for Diverse Learners

    To meet the needs of diverse learners, teachers could give students a graphic organizer to fill out on the different forms of energy during the video. Some of the graphic organizers can have scaffolded sentence starters to assist students that need the extra assistance. Teachers could also frontload vocabulary to a small group of students prior to the day the lesson is to take place.

    Step 3 - Instruction

    Step 3 Instruction

    1. Teachers will facilitate the card sorting activity explained in the previous section. Students will work together to sort the cards into categories. The teacher will walk around and ask probing questions to help the students sort through their thoughts. The teacher will then facilitate a discussion for partnerships to share out their sorts and thoughts.
    2. The teacher will play the video until minute mark 4:30. Students will discuss with their partners the definition of energy. Students will share out with the class and together formulate a definition for energy.
    3. As students watch the video until minute mark 8:59, they will write down the different forms of energy that the video talks about. The teacher will then pause the video and students will share out their findings. Students who have missed any of the forms of energy will add them to their list.
    4. Working with their partner, students will have a few minutes to brainstorm an example for each of the forms of energy.
    5. The teacher will then place students in groups and assign each group one of the forms of energy.
    6. Each group will work together to create a poster with an explanation of the assigned form of energy and pictures of examples of that form of energy. At this time, the teacher will walk around and assess student learning.
    7. The teacher will hang up the posters around the room and students will participate in a gallery walk.

    Step 4 - Assessments

    Step 4 Assessments

    • The teacher will be conducting several formative assessments throughout the lesson through their picture sorts, discussion questions, and posters. The teacher will be constantly walking around the room and listening to know how to better facilitate learning in group discussions.
    • The teacher will also know how well their students understood this introductory lesson by assessing the different examples of each form of energy on the posters.