What is Energy

Overview

Students are introduced to the idea of energy as the “ability to cause change” in the world. They explore common forms of energy (such as kinetic, potential, thermal) and identify real-life examples, building the questioning and investigation skills needed for the unit’s later experiments.

Learning intentions

• Students will describe energy as something that can cause changes in objects and systems.
• Students will identify examples of different energy forms in everyday situations.
• Students will connect energy forms to real-world applications (e.g. heating, moving, storing).
• Students will pose an investigable question about how energy might change in a simple scenario.

Success criteria

• I can explain energy as the ability to cause change in my own words.
• I can give at least two examples of different energy forms and what they do.
• I can match an energy form to a real-life situation (moving, stored, heated).
• I can write a question that could be tested in a fair investigation.

Curriculum links

• AC9S6I01: pose investigable questions to identify patterns and test relationships and make reasoned predictions.
• AC9S6U03: investigate the transfer and transformation of energy in electrical circuits (introduced conceptually later; this lesson builds the energy vocabulary and idea of change).
• AC9S6I04: use representations to organise information and describe patterns and relationships (class sorting and concept map).
• AC9S6I02: plan and conduct repeatable investigations by focusing today on what makes a question investigable and fair (set-up thinking only in this lesson).

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (video + prediction). Teacher shows a short video clip of everyday changes (e.g. a toy moving, food heating, a swing slowing). Students record one “What changed?” statement and predict what caused the change.

2. 5–12 min · Whole-class concept discussion. Teacher prompts: “What is energy?” and guides students to build the definition as “energy is the ability to cause change.” Students share their “What changed?” ideas; teacher records student wording and refines it into a class definition.

3. 12–22 min · Energy forms sort (kinetic, potential, thermal). Teacher displays scenario cards/images and a simple organiser with three columns: moving (kinetic), stored (potential), heating (thermal). Students in pairs sort 9–12 examples into the columns, then choose one example from each column to explain using sentence starters: “This shows energy because…”.

4. 22–30 min · Class debrief: applications and correct naming. Teacher leads a brief discussion: how energy shows up in daily life and why we use it (e.g. to move vehicles, to store water behind dams, to keep food warm). Students justify their choices: “Which energy form is it, and what change do we see?”

5. 30–38 min · Investigable question builder (AC9S6I01 focus). Teacher introduces a question stem on the board: “How does changing ___ affect ___?” and reminds students to make the question testable. Students draft 2 questions individually, then partner-check for investigability using a checklist: Is there a variable we can change? Is there something we can measure/observe? Is it possible to keep other factors the same?

6. 38–45 min · Exit ticket (reasoned start to predictions). Students complete a short exit ticket:

• Write one energy-form example from today.
• Write one investigable question (or improve one from your draft).
• Make a first prediction: “I think changing ___ will cause ___ because ___.”

Resources

• Short video clip showing everyday energy-related changes (no hyperlinks required).
• Printed scenario cards/images (moving/stored/heating examples).
• Class organiser (three-column chart) and markers/whiteboard.
• Pair discussion prompts and sentence starters.
• Student notebooks or worksheets for sorting and question drafting.
• Checklist for investigable questions (variable change, measurable/observable, keep other factors the same).
• Exit ticket slips.

Assessment

• Observation during video discussion: students’ ability to link a change to “energy”.
• Formative check during the sorting task: accuracy of energy-form labels and explanations.
• Exit ticket review: whether each question is investigable and whether predictions use “because” reasoning.

Differentiation

• Support for students who need structure: provide sentence starters and a word bank (kinetic, potential, thermal, move, store, heat, change, energy).
• Support for EAL learners: allow drawing alongside writing; use sentence frames for justifications (“I see… therefore…”).
• Extension challenge: ask students to include a second energy form in their explanation (e.g. “stored energy becomes kinetic energy when…”) and refine their questions to focus on a relationship.
• Scaffolding the “fair test” idea: model one example of an investigable vs non-investigable question (teacher think-aloud).

Extension (optional)

• Not included.