Crystal P. LaVoie
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1. What is speed and how is it measured? Students will calculate speed of a car traveling down a ramp. They will compare speed in different units. (p 8)
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2. Can you predict the speed of the car at any point on the ramp? Students will determine the speed of the car at different points as it rolls down the ramp. Students will make a speed versus position graph with their data, and predict speed at any point using their graph. (p 10).
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3. What is the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration? Students will: 1. measure the force on a car as it starts to roll down the ramp; 2. compare the force on the car as the angle of the ramp is changed; 3. calculate the acceleration of the car as the angle of the ramp is changed; and, 4. explore the relationship between force and acceleration. (p 16).
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4. What happens when you multiply forces in a machine? Students will explore how simple machines are able to multiply forces and will be able to calculate work. (p 30).
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5. What is energy and how does it behave? Students will discover the relationship between speed and height on a roller coaster and describe how energy is conserved. (p 34).
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6. Where did the energy go? Students will describe energy transformations in several scenarios including identifying mechanical, radiant, electrical, chemical and nuclear forms of energy. (p 38).
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7. How much does it cost to use the electrical appliances in your home? Students will read appliance labels to determine their power rating. They will calculate the number of kilowatt-hours each appliance uses in a month and then calculate the approximate cost of running each electrical appliance using their electric company rates. (p 52).
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8. How is temperature measured? Students will accurately measure changes in temperature and will develop a way to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales. (p 186).
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9. How efficient is an immersion heater? Students will calculate an increase in thermal energy, work output, work input and efficiency. They will then analyze the efficiency of a household appliance. (p 188).
Matter and Energy Activity (http://www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/seventh/7C1.shtml)
In conducting this activity, students will define and demonstrate an understanding of mass by correctly measuring various objects using a balance. They will also define the terms energy, potential energy and kinetic energy and will give examples of each. Divide the class into groups of two and let them measure the mass of several objects. Use heavy objects such as a glass or beaker, eraser, scissors, and small objects such as a pencil, pen, or graduated cylinder. After all groups have measured the objects, have them compare their findings. Help them to see that larger objects generally have more mass while smaller objects have less mass, depending upon their densities. (You might also point out that it requires more energy to move the larger objects than it does to move the smaller objects.) Give students a worksheet of problems to solve for potential and kinetic energy using the formulas PE = mgh (where g is the acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s2) and KE = 1/2mv2 (Appendix E). For closure, ask students to turn to their neighbor and tell him how to measure an object’s mass and how its mass is related to energy. Also review the two types of energy and the definition of each type.
