Energy in Real-Life Situations

Cooperative Learning
Chapter 12 Pages 307- 345
9th Grade Physical Science

1. MATERIALS/PREPLANNING
Materials Energy problem worksheet, Energy E.O.D. Checkpoint, personal power activity lab/worksheet, conservation of
energy eduCanon video, conservation of energy guided notes, calculator, pens, pencils
Vocabulary kinetic energy, potential energy, law of conservation of energy, newton, work, power, gravitational potential
energy,
Literature class textbook, eduCanon video
2. OBJECTIVE
Students will be able to find their energy, work and power exerted when walking the hallway and climbing stairs
DOK Level 4: Extended thinking - create a model, apply concepts of energy
DOK Level 3: Formulate personal power being exerted using formulas
HS-PS3-1: Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the
change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known.
3. ASSESSMENT Perfect Assessment Tool Rationale:
Informal assessment through the personal power This assessment supports this theoretical model in
activity/lab the sense that it allows me to assess students
My assessment tool supports the brain for excellent performance with the material in order to see if they
learning because it allows students to connect the have reached the learning goals for this lesson.
concepts they are learning about work, power and energy Another assessment tool I could use is an end of the
to things that they do everyday. When students can unit formative assessment test that would traditionally
connect things to what they do in real life, it helps them to measure their grasps of the concepts covered. The
understand things better. With this activity, they can see assessment I chose is more hands on and
that even just when you walk down the hallway you are application based in comparison to standard testing
doing work and producing kinetic energy. Students really
like this activity because they get up and move and they
can actually calculate work, power and energy from the
data that they collected from walking down the hallway and
up the stairs.

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4. CENTRAL FOCUS/ PURPOSE (2 parts to include)
1. The Central Focus of this lesson is for students to be able to understand what energy is and how to calculate energy, work
and power. Through the personal power activity students use their own experience of walking down the hallway and up a
flight of stairs to calculate the work, power, speed and energy exerted. Students use computational thinking in the personal
power activity and explain their thinking to other students when going over the energy problems.
This lesson will benefit them because it brings energy to their real-life so they can see how physics applies to their daily life
(HS-PS3-2). This also helps them to understand how concepts of science/physics can help them lead a healthy active life.
5. MOTIVATION FOR LEARNING
This lesson will activate both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in my students. Intrinsic motivation to do well on their lab
activity and assignment because they will be working in groups so they cannot slack, therefore they will want to take pride
and responsibility for in their work and their group members will hold them accountable. Extrinsic because they want to
receive a good grade.
I will support the motivation to learn by providing engaging assignments and activities that will help them want to learn
because it incorporates ideas/concepts apart of everyday life.
This lesson promotes a growth mindset because every part of this lesson besides the assessment requires collaboration,
which encourages students to work together if they are stuck on a certain concept. Instead of getting discouraged and
frustrated that they dont understand something, they are able to work together with partners in order to grow as individuals
and help them believe they can be successful

6. PRE-LESSON - Just before teaching the new lesson do the following:

Students will take out their energy problem worksheets so we can complete a jigsaw of the work they did in class and for
homework. The jigsaw is a cooperative learning technique used to have students share their ideas. In this case I choose to
use the jigsaw so that students become an expert on a set of problems and explain them to their peers. By using the jigsaw
approach with this worksheet, I see students speaking in ways that they feel confident about the problem they completed by
giving a thorough and complete answer and by answering any questions their group members may ask. I have found that
when students are forced to explain their thinking that is where they can the most understanding of the process and any
areas they may be struggling with.
To set up this jigsaw, I have students look at the numbers on their tables, where each seat has a number #1-4. Each
students is be responsible for the problem that corresponds to a set of problems (1:#1-3, 2:#5-8, 3:#9-12, 4:#13-16). Then I
tell them they need to find the people that have the same problem numbers as them; they then need to come to agreement
on the answer to those problems. Then they come back to their group and explain their problems and make sure that
everyone in their group understands those problems before the next person goes over their problems.
When we do this activity, I will give students about 10 minutes with their problem groups and then 20 minutes with their home
groups (5 minutes to explain set of problems). To get students into their problem groups, I first tell them that each corner of
the room corresponds to their table numbers (#1-4). I point to each corner and then I tell them to form their groups in each of
the corners. When they are in their groups, they edit the problem on their current problem set.
Their task as a group is to come to a consensus on how to do the problems and the correct answers. Students edit the
answers they have on their homework pages. They also need to teach anyone in their group who did not finish the
homework problem how to do those problems so that every person in the group is able to explain the process to the correct
answer to their home group. After 10 minutes, I have students say thank you to each member of their problem group and
return to their original table with their home group. At the table with their home group each student gets up to 5 minutes to
explain to their group how they got the answers until each member has explained their problems.
I ultimately want students to be able to find their energy, work and power exerted when walking the hallway and climbing

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 stairs, so this worksheet will provide them with the perfect amount of practice with these equations.

6. LESSON BODY: Provide text page #315 or your lesson.

Step 1: Introduce the task- I will be telling students to take out their energy problem worksheets and explain to them the
process of how we will be doing the jigsaw activity
Step 2: Name, teach, and practice targeted social skills- this lesson model is all about cooperative learning, and collaboration,
so I will set rules and guidelines for how to work together and create a positive working classroom environment. For example,
some skills will be to: ask question, assist group members, contribute ideas, give and receive constructive feedback, have a
positive attitude, be a good listener, be supportive and respectful, share ideas, show sensitivity to the feelings of others, take
turns to speak and share ideas and work cooperatively with peers!
Step 3: Implement the lesson and monitor student interactions: the students role during this step is to actively take on the
task set before them using the resources available. They will only request help from peers or teacher when they
need it. My role will be to observe and monitor students progress and address any group needs as they arise.
Step 4: Summarize learning: I will engage students in activities that allow them to summarize/develop closure regarding what
they have learned from the lesson. In this lesson, the summary of learning will be done through the personal power
activity
Step 5: Measure group and individual accountability: I will measure both group and individual activity based on students
performance in the jigsaw activity with the energy problem worksheet. I will hold students accountable for the
individual work they had done in regards to what they brought to their groups. If they have successfully did their role
for the group, they have individually succeeded. I will measure group accountability by observing how well the
groups perform together on the task as a whole. The jigsaw activity is a great way to check both group and
individual accountability as part of the cooperative learning model.
Step 6: Assess learning: I will be assessing students academic performance through the personal power activity lab, and the
E.O.D. checkpoint assignment. These will help me determine the number and degree of learning goals attained.
7. ASSIGNMENT
The perfect assignment will be the energy checkpoint worksheet.
After students have conferred about the answers to the energy problem set, I have them individually complete the Energy
E.O.D Checkpoint.
I provide them with the equations on the board to help them but expect them to be able to show all work and complete the
problems on their own. I do this as a check to see if my students have been able to understand what energy is and how to
use the equations
Students may make minor errors in what numbers they should include in the equation, as well as might struggle with whether
or not they should convert them as well as not having the definition of energy as the ability to do work.
This is the perfect assignment based on how the brain works because this will give them a chance to get practice wit
applying the concepts they have learned in the pre-lesson jigsaw activity as well as the other lecture material we have
covered in the unit. By having them perform practice problems, it is allowing students to get the repetitive practice of using
the formulas and solving the equations so they are able to perform these calculations in the real life application lab
assessment activity.
An addition assignment (given as homework) will be to watch the conservation of energy video notes for homework. Further
details of this assignment are included in the next section under technology support.

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8. Student Work Examples/Technology Support

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 Technology support: http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=2GF2R4y
Students will take notes on the video as they watch it through a program called eduCanon. With eduCanon, students must
watch the entire video. In addition, there are small checkpoints along the way that ask them questions about their
understanding the video. This program helps keeps students engaged during the video instead of just mindlessly copying
what is on the screen onto their notes in the Conservation of Energy Guided Notes. Also, it provides me with feedback on
what students understand.
Reflective Thinking/Curriculum Evaluation
9. Reflective Thinking/Curriculum Evaluation

Relevance: Explain how this lesson demonstrates your competence with one of the Graduate SLOs below? Delete unused
SLOs.

SLO 1: Demonstrate advanced understanding of the trends, issues, and research associated with education in
general and with their respective specialization. This lesson demonstrates my understanding of the trends, issues, and
research association with education in general because it is taking advantage of the power off group work and collaboration
through cooperative learning. I know I had countless experiences with cooperative learning in my educational experiences,
and activities in where I was responsible for teaching others were the most effective and long lasting. There is something
about taking away the traditional role as a teacher that makes learning so much more powerful and engaging. I believe
cooperative learning is an excellent way to build students growth mind set, hold them accountable for their work, and set

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 them up for their future careers by showing them how to work effectively with others.

Significance/competence: Using careful analysis and evaluative thought, address the points listed below. Add other
pertinent information that supports our competence by using this lesson model.

This lesson supports students reach higher level of thinking because in order to make cooperative learning work, each
student has to bring to the table a certain level of understanding of the material in order to have the group succeed as a
whole. They need to be a master of their area in order to be able to teach others, and like I had stated above, being able to
teach a concept shows ultimate understanding of it.
This model makes learning stick in long-term memory by incorporating repetition of the material throughout different activities
and assignments, both individually and as a group. By accessing a different skill set than mindlessly listening to a lecture and
taking notes, students will take away a lot more form the lessons and have the concepts stick in their long term memory.
Since I will be teaching high school science, cooperative learning activities will be easy to include throughout my curriculum.
Especially when it comes to difficult concepts. By breaking the tasks and topics down into smaller parts where each student
can focus on one certain thing, then teach the rest of their group, it will be an excellent tool in making learning meaningful.
I will support advanced/ELD/Special needs learners through this model by making it fit their specific needs through making
modifications or accommodations. For ELD students, I can provide instructions in both English and Spanish, as well as make
sure there are lots of diagrams, pictures, and visual representations of the words. Advanced students I can have them help
be tutors and help the kids who are struggling. And for special needs students I can give them more time to complete the
assignment as necessary, and provide additional scaffolding when necessary.
This lesson supports the following common core standard:
o SL.11-12.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.

Link to Theory:

This perspective ties in with almost all of the learning theories. It pervades much of cognitive theory, especially in the
constructivists notion of knowledge construction. This also ties in with the information processing theories concept of
elaboration and behaviorists concept of active information seeking.
I think this lesson links to the big idea #1 that learners do not passively absorb information from the environment; rather, they
actively work to make sense of their environment and construct their own, unique understandings of the world. By allowing
students to take on specialized roles in their groups, they are able to read/discover information, then construct it in a way
that makes sense to them so they are able to teach it to their peers in a way that will make it easier to understand.

Growth Mindset

This lesson along with anything else I plan to teach in my class will have the underlying goal of developing a growth mindset in my
students. They will develop growth mindset by viewing challenges as opportunities for self improvement, celebrate their growth with
others (through collaboration and group activities), place effort before talent by rewarding students who are working hard, and take
ownership over your attitude. I want them to have a can do attitude about tasks they may find difficult and keep being a positive
reminder that they CAN do something even if they are struggling. I will provide students with any scaffolding they need to help them
solve problems on their own!

Professional Actions/Areas for growth: What are your next professional steps in this area to keep moving forward as a
professional?

I think cooperative learning is a great way to keep students accountable for the work they are doing. By giving each student
a role in a group activity, it makes him or her take responsibility and become a master in just that topic or question (which will
help prevent them from being overwhelmed with a ton of material all at once). Also, by giving students the chance to teach,
that really will ensure their learning. If you are able to teach others about a concept, that shows your mastery of it. That is the
beauty behind cooperative learning.
I believe learning happens when students are engaged with the material. As I had stated above, I believe the cooperative
learning promotes student learning by holding students accountable for the material they learn and discover through working
together in a group and teaching others.
I want to read more about ways to incorporate cooperative learning in a high school science classroom and learn from other
teachers about what have worked for them
I do not yet have my own classroom, but I feel as though this lesson would hypothetically add to my credibility because it

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follows the problem based learning model, which is an effective strategy to pass onto new teachers