Things you'll need to decide on as you plan: Shifting Energy Between Stores

Bringing together two sets of constraints

Focusing on the learners:

Distinguishing–eliciting–connecting. How to:

• link the idea of burning fuel to the dissipating of energy
• distinguish between the physical descriptions of the lived-in world and the descriptions using the idea of energy

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:

• build in the conservation of energy
• establish a list of ways to calculate energy, represented by words or diagrams
• select an appropriate representation of a quantity of energy for your teaching

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.