Introduction to Work Lesson
There are many terms in physics that are used in everyday language, but they normally have a more specific meaning in physics. The goal of this lesson was for my students to become aware that they use the term "work" in many ways and then to wrestle with why in physics, "work" has such a narrowly defined definition. I not only want my students to learn the physics definitions of the term "work", I wanted them to engage in thinking more deeply about vocabulary from a physics perspective.
Below are the images and prompts used for the lesson. Click on images to display larger images.
Below are the images and prompts used for the lesson. Click on images to display larger images.
In the lesson, students drew upon their prior knowledge to explicitly see that there are many meanings for the term "work" depending on the context it is being used in. "Going to work" differs from "hard work" is different from "working out at the gym". In groups, they engaged in critical discussions to reason why they thought certain definitions would be more meaningful to use in a physics context. The discussions provided scaffolding towards accepting and thinking about the specific physics definition of "work".
Below is a sample of student work showing his/her prior knowledge and the conversations he/she had on the definition of work initially. Click on the images for larger picture.
Below is a sample of student work showing his/her prior knowledge and the conversations he/she had on the definition of work initially. Click on the images for larger picture.
Download a more in-depth, written reflection on this lesson by Clicking Here.
Click Here to go back to Sample Lessons.
Click Here to go back to Sample Lessons.