Telling the energy story: Design and results of a newcurriculum for energy in upper elementary school
Sara J. Lacy, Roger G. Tobin, Sally Crissman, Lezlie DeWater, Kara E. Gray, Nick Haddad, James K. L. Hammerman, and Lane Seeley
Abstract
We describe the development, design, implementation, and preliminary classroom results of an innovative curriculum, Focus on Energy, that supports learning about energy in Grades 4ā5. The curriculum is grounded in the concepts of science as practice, modelābased reasoning, and learning progressions, and builds on students’ preāexisting ideas and resources. We illustrate how students gradually develop the ability to track energy forms, transfers, and transformations in increasingly complex scenarios. We present evidence, using a quasiāexperimental design, that students who completed the curriculum were significantly more adept at these skills than students in comparable classrooms who experienced their districts’ existing energyārelated physical science curricula. Important features of the curriculum include: the careful selection of a limited set of concepts chosen to provide a sound foundation for future learning; a consistent conceptual framework (the Energy Tracking Lens) within which the students have agency to build and refine a model of energy; engaging handsāon activities that steadily build in complexity; accessible and versatile semiāquantitative representations that support reasoning and communication; individual, smallāgroup and largeāgroup meaningāmaking; and training and support for the teachers.
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Sara Lacy, Sally Crissman, and Jim Hammerman













