Energy: Pathways and Bar Charts
Pathways
The UK Curriculum uses a different ‘energy paradigm’ from the ‘forms of energy’ approach. It has two concepts:
Energy stores e.g. chemical, kinetic, thermal, elastic, etc
Energy pathways e.g forces, current, radiation, etc.
There is a 45 page resource titled ‘The Bumper Book of Energy’, see links below. It is for Key Stages 3 and 4 which is equivalent to our Years 7 to 11. Features include:
Descriptions of the various pathways,
Student progress in describing energy stores from simple descriptions to calculation of change,
Student progress in describing energy pathways from simple statements to detailed scientific models,
Rubrics for student explanations of different pathways from pre-structural to uni-structural to multi-structural to relational to extended abstract,
There are also teaching ideas and some worksheets.
The book is available from two sources, i) as a google doc in which the equations and some graphics don’t seem to appear and ii) as a download from this website. in which a small section of text is missing,
Also check out:
BEST: Best Evidence Science Teaching from the Science Education Group at the University of York.
The Science Doctor: Secondary physics worksheets and science teaching resources by a UK Physics teacher who ‘wants science/physics teachers to have free access to quality resources’. His site currently includes: 9 GCSE physics booklets, 13 A level booklets and 400 downloadable physics resources. He has a ‘buymeacoffee’ button, but would prefer donations go to a neonatal clinic in Watford.
E=mc2and all that– A UK physics teacher writes about stuff. He has themed collections on electric circuit models, Magnetism, Lenz’s Law, Energy, Newton’s Laws and Marking ‘What to do if your school has a batshit crazy marking policy’. The teaching suggestions are clear and direct, and supported by animations.
The concepts of energy and energy transfer are difficult for students to grasp. The use of Bar Charts to explain the transfer of energy between various stores has been effective.
Below are some resources of value:
- Towards a research-informed sequence on teaching energy. A 14 page article by Robin Millar of the University of York. The article discusses the difficulties with a ‘forms of energy’ approach, the risk of seeing energy as a cause and the problems of Heat and then moves to a discussion of energy stores and pathways. The article finishes with a detailed teaching sequence across the secondary school.
- A Youtube video of a Zoom PD on Energy Bar Charts by the New Zealand Institute of Physics (40 mins). Transcript is available. First half is the presentation, followed by discussion with participants.
- The Physics Classroom: Illustrations on using Energy Bar Charts.
- Universe and More: An app for students to use. The students select an event from a list of 14, e.g. Video of Felix Baumgartner’s freefall from the upper stratosphere and then select a system e.g. Felix and the Earth or Felix alone and draw the energy bars for Initial and Final. The student can add energy bars from a list of four (KE, GPE, EPE and Internal Energy change.) They can also add Work to the system. Also check ‘Home’ for other apps.