Students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of energy through observing a variety of energy transformations and develop a foundational vocabulary for identifying and discussing energy concepts. Students will make observations about how energy is converted between stored and kinetic forms through interacting with these changes in a station-based format. Students have the opportunity to share their findings and engage in scientific talk based on their interactions.

Students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of energy through observing a variety of energy transformations and develop a foundational vocabulary for identifying and discussing energy concepts. Students will make observations about how energy is converted between stored and kinetic forms through interacting with these changes in a station-based format. Students have the opportunity to share their findings and engage in scientific talk based on their interactions.

Students will build a barge out of tin foil and describe the forces acting it. The barge itself is designed only with the constraints that passengers within the barge will not get wet, allowing for students to experiment with different shapes and densities as they construct their boats. This simple design challenge has a competition built within it to allow for students to make direct observations of components of their peers’ boats that led to success in the actual testing phase. Through the development of these boats, they will discuss Isaac’s Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion and how different forces act on objects.

Students will learn the basics of how a solar cell generates electricity and observe the effects on a small electrical load attached to a solar module under a variety of conditions. They will build upon knowledge gained in previous lessons dealing with energy transformations in order to build an understanding of how the sun’s energy can be converted into kinetic electrical energy within a photovoltaic cell. Students will additionally be given the opportunity to explore the interaction between current flow and operation of a load through their own exploration of different DC-powered devices.

Students will measure output from a solar module before a load is attached and relate it to real world output. They will make these measurements using a multimeter and be able to determine the optimal angle at which their module generates a current flow. This process is meant to reveal to students some of the design challenges associated with the usage of photovoltaics, whether it is on top of a house or whether it is on a vehicle such as the solar boat they will be designing. This will facilitate a discussion of the pros and cons of solar modules.

Design a science investigation to test a solar speedboat, airboat, and surface submarine. Students will use the “Planning an Investigation Template” in order to determine their motivations for designing a solar boat, make predictions about the outcomes with this design, plan the construction by determining materials to be used in the design, diagram their plans, outline a step-by-step testing method, record data, and write a conclusion based on the data that they collected in their process.

Students will follow step-by-step instructions to build their solar boats. They will troubleshoot as necessary by making sure electricity flows into the motor to make the vehicles move by propeller or gears. They will be using their planned investigations from the previous lesson in order to guide their process. While this involves the usage of instructions initially, students can be permitted to use a variety of other materials outside those listed in order to make improvements to their design and add a higher level of inquiry to the process.

Students will race the solar speedboats, airboats, and surface submarines and then compare the performance results and of the various types of solar boats made by the class. Students will compare and contrast forces acting on the system by examining the results of the airboat, speedboat and surface submarine races.

Students have performed the investigation. They will now analyze their data, refer to their initial predictions, and develop their conclusions. Students will have the opportunity to discuss the usefulness of both quantitative and qualitative data forms, determining where each is most useful in drawing specific types of conclusions. This discussion will be used as a method of allowing for students to make direct applications of the vocabulary they have been using throughout the course of the unit (forces, energy transformation, etc). Additionally, they will have the opportunity to practice scientific talk through a journaling activity.