Energy Transformations in Systems

Learners will define forces, distinguish balanced and unbalanced forces, calculate net force, and recognize how forces create patterns of motion in everyday situations.

Learners will explain how friction, gravity, and mass affect motion and use spring scales to measure force in newtons.

Learners will explain how forces cause energy transfer and describe how speed, mass, and collisions affect the amount of energy transferred between objects.

Learners will plan, design, conduct, and analyze investigations using cars on ramps and balloon rockets to test how forces affect motion and energy transfer.

Learners will investigate how energy transforms from one form to another within systems, tracing energy chains and identifying multiple simultaneous transformations in everyday devices.

Learners will identify the essential components of a functioning circuit, distinguish between open and closed circuits, and explain how electrical energy transforms into light, thermal, motion, and sound energy in circuits.

Learners will explore how sound carries energy, then build and analyze electrical circuits including switches, series connections, and circuit diagrams, and troubleshoot non-functioning circuits.

Learners will compare different energy outputs in circuits, explain the role of conductors and insulators in safety, identify energy transformations in real-world devices, and design their own energy transformation system.