The NSDL Middle School Portal has a section dedicated to Energy Transfers & Transformations- Sparking Student Interest where middle school teachers will find:
- Background information
- Activities- (links to several online sources)
- National Science Education Standards
This is a good site to add to your toolbox of energy resources, however, some of the resources lean toward a traditional idea of energy instruction. I hope to put together some more resources on forms of energy, energy transfers, and energy transformations that focus on developing a conceptual understanding of energy plus supporting the notion that energy instruction can be a “cross-cutting” idea in science.
Just for fun- here is a quote from Richard Feynman on energy:
It is important to realize that in physics today, we have no knowledge of what energy is. We do not have a picture that energy comes in little blobs of a definite amount. It is not that way. However, there are formulas for calculating some numerical quantity and when we add it together it gives “28”—always the same number. It is an abstract thing in that it does not tell us the mechanisms or the reasons for the various formulas.
Science for All 