Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation

Topic: Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation

Below is a list of key ideas related to Energy: Forms, Transformation, Transfer, and Conservation. Select a key idea to see the sub-ideas, assessment items, results from our field testing, student misconceptions, and NGSS statements for that idea.

Additional content related to this topic is available in the ASPECt.

Motion energy (kinetic energy) is associated with the speed and the mass of an object.

Thermal energy is associated with the temperature and the mass of an object and the material of which the object is made.

Thermal energy of an object is associated with the disordered motions of its atoms or molecules and the number and types of atoms or molecules of which the object is made.

Gravitational potential energy is associated with the distance an object is above a reference point, such as the center of the earth, and the mass of the object.

Elastic potential energy is associated with the stretching or compressing of an elastic object and how difficult it is to stretch or compress the object.

Energy can be transformed (converted) within a system.

Energy can be transferred from one system to another (or from a system to its environment) in different ways: by conduction, mechanically, electrically, or by radiation (electromagnetic waves).

Regardless of what happens within a system, the total amount of energy in the system remains the same unless energy is added to or released from the system.