Part I: Energy | Part II: Waves & Information
Suggested Timeframe: Winter (Jan-March)
Unit description: In Part I, Students explore how energy can be transferred by/from moving objects, sound, light, heat, or electric currents. When moving objects collide the object’s motion changes. Students learn about the different types of energy; where and how we find and use this energy. In Part II, students learn properties of waves and how we use this information to design high tech devices, and transmit digitized information.
Download the complete Grade 4 Science Unit 2 framework to customize for your own planning.
Essential Questions and Big Ideas
Part I: Energy
- Where do we find energy and how do we use it?
- A given object possesses more energy of motion when it is moving faster. (4-PS3-1)
- Energy can be transferred by moving objects or by sound, light, heat, or electric currents. (4-PS3-2), (4-PS3-3)
- Energy is present whenever there are moving objects, sound, light, or heat. When objects collide, energy can be transferred from one object to another, thereby changing their motion. In such collisions, some energy is typically also transferred to the surrounding air; as a result, the air gets heated and sound is produced. (4-PS3-2),(4-PS3-3)
- Energy can also be transferred by electric currents, which can then be used locally to produce motion, sound, heat, or light. The currents may have been produced to begin with by transforming the energy of motion into electrical energy. (4-PS3-2),(4-PS3-4)
- When objects collide, the contact forces transfer energy so as to change the objects’ motions. (4-PS3-3)
- The expression “produce energy” typically refers to the conversion of stored energy into a desired form for practical use. (4-PS3-4)
- Energy and fuels that humans use are derived from natural sources, and their use affects the environment in multiple ways. Some resources are renewable over time, and others are not. (4-ESS3-1)
- Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account. (secondary to 4-PS3-4)
Part II: Waves & Information
- How do we use waves in everyday life?
- Waves, which are regular patterns of motion, can be made in water by disturbing the surface. When waves move across the surface of deep water, the water goes up and down in place; there is no net motion in the direction of the wave except when the water meets a beach.(4-PS4-1)
- Waves of the same type can differ in amplitude (height of the wave) and wavelength (spacing between wave peaks). (4-PS4-1)
- Digitized information can be transmitted over long distances without significant degradation. High-tech devices, such as computers or cell phones, can receive and decode information—convert it from digitized form to voice—and vice versa. (4-PS4-3)
- Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints. (secondary to 4-PS4-3)
Prerequisite Skills/Science & Engineering Practices
Use evidence to construct an explanation, make observations to provide evidence, ask questions and predict outcomes, apply scientific ideas to design, test and refine a device with a purpose, obtain and combine information to describe concepts, develop a model to describe patterns, generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem.