Grade 4: K-12 Alliance: Chain Reactions— Energy in Motion

Listings > Grade 4: K-12 Alliance: Chain Reactions— Energy in Motion

This unit was created as part of the California NGSS Early Implementation Initiative, developed by the K-12 Alliance at WestEd and the initiative’s teacher leaders. The project included close collaborative input from the CA State Board of Education and the California Department of Education as a fast-start demonstration program to build district capacity to fully implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as a core subject in the elementary grades (K-5) and integrated in grades 6-8.

Score: 4

Science Discipline: Physical Science, Engineering

Length: Unit

Year Reviewed: 2021

The Grade 4, Chain Reaction: Energy in Motion is a physical science unit on energy transformation. Students make sense of the anchoring phenomenon for this unit, a stalled Rube Goldberg® machine through three-dimensional learning experiences. Students recognize that energy transfers and transforms in everyday life as they explore the flow of energy within and between systems. They identify observable changes that occur, where the energy comes from, and where the energy goes. Students investigate energy transfer from place to place and recognize that the faster an object is moving the more energy it possesses. Students investigate energy transformation as the energy source is converted in its actions and apply their understanding by designing a device that transforms energy.

Link to Materials

The following link will direct you to the K-12 Alliance Unit Overview Page: Chain Reaction:Energy in Motion

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