Course Introduction

Welcome to the course Teaching Energy Transformations in the Elementary Classroom. This professional development module is designed to deepen your understanding of how energy moves and changes form in both natural systems and human-made technologies over time. It also aims to equip you with the tools and strategies needed to bring energy literacy into your classroom in meaningful, age-appropriate ways. By connecting core science concepts to everyday experiences, you’ll be able to guide your students in exploring how energy powers their world and how their choices impact the environment and society. Before diving into classroom strategies and student-facing activities, it’s important for you, as an educator, to develop a strong foundational understanding of these concepts. In this first chapter, we’ll focus on the science itself: What is energy? What forms does it take? And how does it transform from one type to another?