Are KE and GPE linked?

 We spent quite a bit of time looking at how energy changes. In the last few lessons on KE and GPE, we saw that on a rollercoaster ride the ride initially builds up GPE by raising the height of the cars. Then the GPE changes to KE as the ride moves back towards the ground and then changing KE into GPE as it goes up the next rise. 

 

 The formative task on the skateboard park designing was to see what you know about this. This was more of a qualitative study as there were no numbers involved. Now is the time to look at the size and we have started looking at math expressions that allow us to do this. The only problem is that we often have to change the subject of the expression to solve the problems. This can be an "Achilles heel" of many, so we can go through this several times until you can do it - there is also a "how-to video" in the purple skills development folder in Schoology.

It is a perfect time to revisit the SI metric system and how we use prefixes and the main quantity to help us explain distances, volumes, times and all other quantities. A scientific notation will also help us understand the large and small numbers that scientists use each and every day. 

The coming weeks will see us use math to help explain work and power, in terms of mechanical energy. Calculators are an advantage here as some of the math is complex.

For any summative test, all of the main formulas will be provided on your front page. How good is that?