Knowledge and Skills Statement
Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that energy is everywhere and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems.
Further Explanation
The further explanation is designed to be a resource for educators that helps them better understand the topic their students are learning. Further explanations may be written at a more complex level than would be expected for students at the grade level.
Some examples of materials students could explore are aluminum, copper, paper, polystyrene foam, plastic, rubber, and silicone.
Everything will conduct thermal energy to some extent. A conductor is a material that allows electrical or thermal energy to pass through easily, and an insulator is a material that greatly reduces the flow of heat or prevents the flow of electricity. A very poor conductor is often used as an insulator because it slows down the energy transfer. For example, a glass mug of hot chocolate feels warm/hot to the touch but can still be held because the mug is cooler than the liquid inside it. The flow of heat into the mug was reduced. The glass mug will also stay hot after the liquid inside it was consumed because the glass slows down the flow of heat leaving the mug.
Many students have experiences with glass and water that can lead to misconceptions about their ability to conduct or insulate thermal or electrical energy. Some examples include the inside of a car or greenhouse getting hot in the sun, the heat given off by glass lightbulbs, using fiberglass as housing insulation, bodies of water conducting electricity, and distilled water not conducting electricity. These experiences can be used as phenomena through which to discuss the properties of those materials.