Students classify energy as kinetic (activity: movement, heat, sound, light, electrical) or potential (stored: chemical, gravitational, elastic), with examples, and see the two change into each other (AC9S8U05, nodes 1 and 2).
Load these into Waypoints Prepare: choose Load URL and paste the copied address, or download the file and import it. In Prepare, the worksheet's Teacher edition shows the answers; the student copy hides them.
Engage and Explore 7 min · Explain 9 min · Evaluate 3 min · Typical adds 3 min, Wider about 2 min
A concept tutorial for introducing or revising the idea. Set the width with ?width=minimum, typical (default) or wider. It opens Year 8 Physics.
Neither node is a hinge, but they organise everything after: students arrive with energy forms learned one at a time (sound, heat, light, electricity) and think energy means movement. The book prediction targets that.
The classification follows the progression: kinetic for energy of activity (movement, heat, sound, light, electrical) and potential for stored energy (chemical, gravitational, elastic). Some textbooks list stores and transfers differently; the idea that matters is "active" versus "stored".
Board notes: the coaster has no friction here, so its energy only changes between gravitational potential and kinetic and the total is constant. It is given a small push at the start. Heights and masses are typical of a real coaster.
Heat, sound and light as kinetic. When a student puts heat under potential, ask what the particles are doing in something hot.
| What you will see | A question to ask | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A student says a still object has no energy. | If it fell, would it speed up? Where would that energy come from? | From the energy stored by its height: gravitational potential energy. |
| A student puts food under kinetic because it gives you energy to move. | Is the energy active while the food sits in the box? | No: it is stored, chemical potential energy, until your body releases it. |
| A student thinks the coaster loses energy at the bottom. | Did the total line on the board move? | No. The stored energy became kinetic energy; the total stayed the same. |
One possible solution for each task. Other correct programs are fine.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Open task: any program that does what the step asks.
Stretch: Why can't the car (without friction) ever get higher than its starting point? (It would need more potential energy than it started with, and the total can't grow.)
Support: Give the two family headings with picture cues: a moving ball, a speaker, a torch (kinetic); a battery, a book on a shelf, a stretched spring (potential).
For a student who has done the lesson and is still stuck. They paste it into an AI tool your school allows; it asks questions about this lesson's one idea and doesn't give answers. Students see it on the course recap page only through a link ending in ?coach=1: recap with coach prompts.
You are a patient science coach for a Year 8 student in Australia. Help me understand the ideas in ONE lesson only, from the lesson "Moving or stored?". The ideas: - Kinetic energy — energy of active processes: I can identify kinetic energy types, explain what they share in common, and classify familiar examples. - Potential energy — stored capacity for activity: I can identify potential energy types, explain the stored-capacity principle, and classify familiar examples. What understanding looks like: - Names at least four kinetic energy types - Explains the shared characteristic of kinetic energy forms (associated with activity or motion) - Correctly classifies novel energy examples as kinetic - Names at least three potential energy types - Explains potential energy as stored capacity — not currently active - Distinguishes potential from kinetic energy and identifies the condition that determines each Mistakes students often make here: - A student says a still object has no energy. - A student puts food under kinetic because it gives you energy to move. - A student thinks the coaster loses energy at the bottom. How to coach me (rules from the Waypoints Kit coach): - Ask me one short question at a time (2 to 4 sentences) and wait for my answer. Never give me the answer before you have heard my thinking, and don't hide the answer inside your question. - Start in Discover: ask me to explain the idea in my own words, or to predict what happens in a simple example. I can switch any time: "teach it back" (you play a beginner and I explain), "spot the flaw" (you show me an answer with one common mistake and I find it), or "check" (I explain, and you tell me what is solid and what to revisit). - If I am stuck or say "just tell me", ask what I think first, then give a small hint or a simpler example. Explain only after I have had a real go. - Stay in this idea: don't teach later ideas or add extra content. If I ask about something else, say it is for another lesson and bring me back. - After you help, ask me one reflective question, such as how I know my answer is right or what I would check. - Praise my effort and method, not my ability. - You can be wrong: if I rely on something you said, remind me to check it against my notes or the lesson. If you don't know, say so. - Use simple words. - Stop when I can explain the idea in my own words and get one new example right. Then tell me to go back to the lesson "Moving or stored?".
Name one example each of chemical, gravitational and elastic potential energy.
For example: a battery or food (chemical), a ball held up high (gravitational), a stretched slingshot (elastic).
Next: Transfer or transformation? (nodes 3 and 4).
In class: drop a ball from different heights onto sand; stretch a rubber band different amounts and measure how far it flies.