This packet is everything a parent or guide needs to assess Unit 04 at home — learning targets, the answers that count as correct, the mastery rubric, calibration examples, and a clipboard score sheet. No multiple-choice test: the student shows mastery by measuring energy at two points and reasoning through the transformations aloud.
By the end of the Energy & Work unit, a student should be able to:
Six criteria, each judged Not yet / Approaching / Mastered (Page 3).
Measure energy at the top and bottom of a ramp or spring; test conservation.
The student traces energy through the system aloud (Page 4).
Heights, speeds, and the energy accounting kept distinct.
You are making a decision, not adding up points. For each criterion, decide whether the work is Not yet, Approaching, or Mastered — the column language tells you which. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both take the measurement and justify it from theory. A student carries three tokens per term; one token buys a re-do of one criterion on another day, so a single bad afternoon never sinks the unit.
Accept any answer in the synonyms column — they are pre-approved as equivalent. The third column flags the confusions that look close but are not yet, so you can coach precisely.
| Canonical answer | Accepted synonyms | Common confusion / discriminator |
|---|---|---|
| Work & energy | ||
| Work | force × displacement; W | Only the force component along the motion does work |
| Kinetic energy | energy of motion; ½mv² | Grows with the square of speed, not linearly |
| Gravitational potential energy | height energy; mgh | Measured from a chosen zero; only differences matter |
| Elastic potential energy | spring energy; ½kx² | Stored by stretch or compression, either direction |
| Conservation & power | ||
| Conservation of energy | energy is conserved | Energy transforms; it is never created or destroyed |
| Mechanical energy | KE + PE | Conserved only when friction does no work |
| Thermal loss | friction heat | Energy is not lost — it turns into heat |
| Power | rate of energy transfer; watts | Energy per second; not the same as energy itself |
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work | Multiplies force by distance regardless of direction. | Uses W = Fd but ignores the angle between force and motion. | Calculates work with the force–displacement angle and distinguishes zero, positive, and negative work. |
| Kinetic & potential energy | Confuses the energy forms or their formulas. | Computes one form but not both, or forgets the reference point. | Computes kinetic, gravitational, and elastic potential energy and chooses a sensible zero. |
| Conservation of energy | Thinks energy is used up and gone. | Applies conservation but forgets friction losses. | Tracks energy transformations, including thermal losses, and shows the total is conserved. |
| Power | Confuses power with energy or force. | Uses the power equation but not the time dependence. | Relates power to the rate of energy transfer and compares devices on that basis. |
| Lab technique (energy on a ramp / spring) | Takes single-point data with no energy comparison. | Measures both points but does not account for loss. | Measures energy at two points, tests conservation against loss, and reports uncertainty. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit to its anchor across History · Reading · Writing (plus chosen electives) and defends why the connection matters. |
The split between Approaching and Mastered is reach for conservation: not just computing one energy, but tracking it from one point to another and balancing the books. Listen for “potential at the top equals kinetic at the bottom plus the friction loss.”
Read these before you grade. They show what Mastered and Not yet actually sound like, plus the edge cases where you should coach rather than decide on the spot.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Work | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 2 | Kinetic & potential energy | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 3 | Conservation of energy | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 4 | Power | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (energy on a ramp / spring) | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 6 | Integration (cross-domain) | NY / Appr / Mast |
☐ No ☐ Yes — for criterion: __________ Tokens remaining: ☐ 3 ☐ 2 ☐ 1 ☐ 0
NY = Not yet · Appr = Approaching · Mast = Mastered · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.