Connecticut Content Standard 12: Energy

Students will know that energy is conserved, transferred, transformed, and appears in different forms.

Grades K - 4

Educational experiences in Grades K - 4 will assure that students:

recognize (in Grades K-2) forms of energy (e.g., heat, light, sound) used every day;
recognize (in Grades K-2) that visible light contains the colors of the rainbow;
demonstrate (in Grades K-2) that sound can be produced by vibrating objects;
recognize (in Grades K-2) that energy can be used to bring about changes in matter (e.g., melt an ice cube);
demonstrate (in Grades K-2) that sound has different properties (e.g., high-low, loud-soft);
understand (in Grades K-2) that the sun’s rays warm objects on the Earth;
describe various forms of energy, such as light, heat, electrical and chemical, and cite examples of the change of one form into another;
recognize that sounds can be varied by making changes to the objects emitting the sound (e.g., tautness of a string, length of a tube, medium through which the sound travels);
recognize that some materials conduct heat better than others, and that poor conductors (insulators) can reduce heat loss;
give examples of ways energy consumption can be reduced;
recognize that primary colors of light can be mixed to create other colors;
demonstrate that light has a number of properties, such as color, brightness and direction of travel; and
demonstrate that light can be absorbed, reflected, transmitted and bent using mirrors and lenses.

Grades 5 - 8

Educational experiences in Grades 5 - 8 will assure that students:

recognize that energy can neither be created nor destroyed;
identify energy transformations that occur in various systems (e.g., biological, mechanical, geological) and recognize that heat is a by product of energy transformations;
demonstrate that heat can be transferred by convection, conduction and radiation;
recognize that energy exists in many forms (e.g., light, heat, chemical, electrical and mechanical) and that energy can be transformed from one form to another;
understand that all physical changes, including changes of state, require energy;
recognize that the sun produces energy in a range of wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum; and
compare and contrast different forms of energy in terms of their wave-lengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Grades 9 - 12

Educational experiences in Grades 9 - 12 will assure that students:

classify various forms of energy as either kinetic or potential;
recognize that heat energy is related to the disordered motion of atoms or molecules;
understand that the total amount of disorder in the universe is increasing;
explain that, although energy changes into different forms within a closed system, the total amount of energy remains unchanged, while the amount of useful energy is decreased;
describe the nature of different types of waves, how they are produced, and how they transfer energy;
understand that every object exerts a gravitational force on every other object; and
interpret the physical characteristics of sound, (including pitch and loudness) in terms of wave theory.