Standard 4: Students will understand the relationships among energy, force, and motion.
Objective 1: Investigate the transfer of energy through various materials.
a. Relate the energy of a wave to wavelength.
b. Compare the transfer of energy (i.e., sound, light, earthquake waves, heat) through various
mediums.
c. Describe the spread of energy away from an energy-producing source.
d. Compare the transfer of heat by conduction, convection, and radiation and provide examples of
each.
e. Demonstrate how white light can be separated into the visible color spectrum.
Objective 2: Examine the force exerted on objects by gravity.
a. Distinguish between mass and weight.
b. Cite examples of how Earth’s gravitational force on an object depends upon the mass of the
object.
c. Describe how Earth’s gravitational force on an object depends upon the distance of the object
from Earth.
d. Design and build structures to support a load.
e. Engineer (design and build) a machine that uses gravity to accomplish a task.
Objective 3: Investigate the application of forces that act on objects, and the resulting motion.
a. Calculate the mechanical advantage created by a lever.
b. Engineer a device that uses levers or inclined planes to create a mechanical advantage.
c. Engineer a device that uses friction to control the motion of an object.
d. Design and build a complex machine capable of doing a specified task.
e. Investigate the principles used to engineer changes in forces and motion.
Objective 4: Analyze various forms of energy and how living organisms sense and respond to
energy.
a. Analyze the cyclic nature of potential and kinetic energy (e.g., a bouncing ball, a pendulum).
b. Trace the conversion of energy from one form of energy to another (e.g., light to chemical to
mechanical).
c. Cite examples of how organisms sense various types of energy.
d. Investigate and report the response of various organisms to changes in energy (e.g., plant
response to light, human response to motion, sound, light, insects’ response to changes in light
intensity).
e. Investigate and describe how engineers have developed devices to help us sense various types of
energy (e.g., seismographs, eyeglasses, telescopes, hearing aids).
Objective 1: Investigate the transfer of energy through various materials.
a. Relate the energy of a wave to wavelength.
b. Compare the transfer of energy (i.e., sound, light, earthquake waves, heat) through various
mediums.
c. Describe the spread of energy away from an energy-producing source.
d. Compare the transfer of heat by conduction, convection, and radiation and provide examples of
each.
e. Demonstrate how white light can be separated into the visible color spectrum.
Objective 2: Examine the force exerted on objects by gravity.
a. Distinguish between mass and weight.
b. Cite examples of how Earth’s gravitational force on an object depends upon the mass of the
object.
c. Describe how Earth’s gravitational force on an object depends upon the distance of the object
from Earth.
d. Design and build structures to support a load.
e. Engineer (design and build) a machine that uses gravity to accomplish a task.
Objective 3: Investigate the application of forces that act on objects, and the resulting motion.
a. Calculate the mechanical advantage created by a lever.
b. Engineer a device that uses levers or inclined planes to create a mechanical advantage.
c. Engineer a device that uses friction to control the motion of an object.
d. Design and build a complex machine capable of doing a specified task.
e. Investigate the principles used to engineer changes in forces and motion.
Objective 4: Analyze various forms of energy and how living organisms sense and respond to
energy.
a. Analyze the cyclic nature of potential and kinetic energy (e.g., a bouncing ball, a pendulum).
b. Trace the conversion of energy from one form of energy to another (e.g., light to chemical to
mechanical).
c. Cite examples of how organisms sense various types of energy.
d. Investigate and report the response of various organisms to changes in energy (e.g., plant
response to light, human response to motion, sound, light, insects’ response to changes in light
intensity).
e. Investigate and describe how engineers have developed devices to help us sense various types of
energy (e.g., seismographs, eyeglasses, telescopes, hearing aids).