Unit 1:

Focus:
This unit engages students with the idea that whenever there is a change, there is at least one form of energy causing that change. Students investigate evidence of energy all around them—when they flip on a light switch, feel a car start to move, or hear a phone ring.

The relationship between energy and change becomes clearer when students understand that

• energy is observed in different forms, such as sound, light, thermal energy (heat), and electrical energy;

• all of these forms of energy can cause changes, such as when a high-pitched sound breaks glass or when heat melts butter;

• one form of energy can transform (convert) into another; and

• all change, in fact, is evidence of a transfer of energy or a transformation.

Students also learn that engineers use their knowledge of energy as they develop solutions to problems and build things that are useful to people. As a series of culminating activities, students explore the principles and practices of engineering design, such as scientifically defining a problem to be solved and evaluating and optimizing possible solutions.