Energy Transferred by Working
Energy and Thermal Physics

Things you'll need to decide on as you plan: energy

Teaching Guidance for 11-14 Supporting Physics Teaching

Bringing together two sets of constraints

Focusing on the learners:

Distinguishing–eliciting–connecting. How to:

  • draw on everyday conversations about energy
  • build on concerns about energy supply
  • formalising the discourse about energy by connecting it to calculations

Teacher Tip: These are all related to findings about children's ideas from research. The teaching activities will provide some suggestions. So will colleagues, near and far.

Focusing on the physics:

Representing–noticing–recording. How to:

  • access values for energy
  • emphasise the atemporal facet of energy: it's always stored
  • distinguish between the physical descriptions of the lived-in world and the descriptions using the idea of energy
  • build in the conservation of energy as an assumption in analysis

Teacher Tip: Connecting what is experienced with what is written and drawn is essential to making sense of the connections between the theoretical world of physics and the lived-in world of the children. Don't forget to exemplify this action.

Energy Transferred by Working
appears in the relation dU=dQ+dW
is used in analyses relating to Working Engines Thermionic Emission
is a special case of Work
has the special case Potential Energy Kinetic Energy
IOP AWARDS 2025

Teachers of Physics Awards

The Teachers of Physics Award celebrates the success of secondary school physics teachers who have raised the profile of physics and science in schools. Nominations for 2025 are now open.

Start your nomination now