Mississippi Science PHS.7.4
The Standard
- PHS.7
- Students will examine different forms of energy and energy transformations.
Conduct investigations to provide evidence of the conservation of energy as energy is converted from one form of energy to another (e.g., wind to electric, chemical to thermal, mechanical to thermal, and potential to kinetic).
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Energy
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students measure energy before and after a change, such as a toy car rolling down a ramp. They use the results to explain where the energy went, including energy transferred to the surroundings.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student uses a car’s mass, release height, and bottom speed to estimate its starting and forward-motion energy. They explain why the estimates differ by pointing to spinning wheels, sound, and heating from friction.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may say friction destroys energy or that a stopped car has no energy. They may treat a lower forward-motion estimate as proof that energy vanished, rather than looking for other energy changes.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Describe how you would use a toy car, ramp, ruler, and slow-motion video to test whether energy disappears. Name what you would measure and explain why your two energy estimates might differ.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Roll a toy car down a ramp from a measured height, use slow-motion video to estimate bottom speed, and compare starting energy with forward-motion energy.
Ask: “A bouncing ball stops bouncing. Where did its energy go?” Have students name changes they could observe or measure.
Give pairs cards labeled battery, motor, spinning fan, and warm motor; have them arrange the cards and draw arrows showing two motor outputs.
Show a photo of bicycle brakes and ask students to trace energy from hill height to wheel motion and warm brake pads.
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Related Standards
- PHS.7.2
Use scientific investigations to explore the transformation of energy from one type to another (e.g., potential to kinetic energy, and mechanical, chemical, ele...
- P.4.6A.3
Develop models demonstrating how heat and electrical energy can be transformed into other forms of energy (e.g., motion, sound, heat, or light).
- P.8.6.2
Investigate research-based mechanisms for capturing and converting wave energy (frequency, amplitude, wavelength, and speed) into electrical energy.
- PHS.4.2
Design and conduct investigations to produce evidence that mass is conserved in chemical reactions (e.g., vinegar and baking soda in a Ziploc© bag).
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