About It's All Uphill 

Highly Recommended
Like all our Science Reasoning Center activities, the completion of the It's All Uphill activity requires that a student use provided information about a phenomenon, experiment, or data presentation to answer questions. This information is accessible by tapping on the small thumbnails found on the bottom right of every question. However, it may be considerably easier to have a printed copy of this information or to display the information in a separate browser window. You can access this information from this page. 





The Standards
The It's All Uphill describes a set of three experiments in which a cart is pulled up an inclined plane at a constant speed to a seat top of a fixed height. Trials are repeated for varying incline angles. The force and distance are measured and the work is calculated for each incline angle. The differing experiments use different massed carts and involve pulling the cart to a different height seat top. The four parts of this activity target a student's ability to draw accurate conclusions from the data, to generate a model that explains such conclusions, to revise the model to explain a similar phenomenon that has a slight variation to it, and to use words to explain the reasoning behind the conclusions of the lab.

This NGSS-inspired task consists of four parts. Each part involves a different type of skill or understanding. Collectively, the five parts were designed to address the following NGSS performance expectation:

HS-PS3-1:
Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known. 



As a whole, the questions in this task address a wide collection of disciplinary core idea (DCI), crosscutting concepts (CCC), and science and engineering practices (SEP). There are 37 questions organized into 13 Question Groups and spread across the four activities. Each question is either a 2D or (preferrably) a 3D question. That is, the task of answering the question requires that the student utilize at least two of the three dimensions of the NGSS science standards - a DCI, a CCC, and/or an SEP.


The following DCI, SEPs, and CCCs are addressed at some point within It's All Uphill:

DCI:  PS3.A: Definitions of Energy

• Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system. That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms.
• At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy.

DCI:  PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer

• Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.
• Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems.

 
SEP 2.1:  Developing and Using Models
Evaluate merits and limitations of two different models of the same proposed tool, process, mechanism, or system in order to select or revise a model that best fits the evidence or design criteria.


SEP 2.3:  Developing and Using Models
Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system.


SEP 3.5: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Make directional hypotheses that specify what happens to a dependent variable when an independent variable is manipulated.


SEP 4.1: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution.


SEP 6.3: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.


CCC 1.2: Patterns
Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.


CCC 2.1: Cause and Effect
Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.


CCC 4.1: Systems and System Models
When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models.


CCC 4.2: Systems and System Models
Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) can be used to simulate systems and interactions—including energy, matter, and information flows—within and between systems at different scales.


CCC 5.3: Energy and Matter
Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system.


CCC 5.4: Energy and Matter
Energy cannot be created or destroyed—it only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.


 

 

Here is our NGSS-based analysis of each individual activity of the It's All Uphill Science Reasoning task. The core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices that we reference in our analysis are numbered for convenience. You can cross-reference the specific notations that we have used with the listings found on the following pages:  

Disclaimer: The standards are not our original work. We are simply including them here for convenience (and because we have referenced the by number). The standards are the property of the Next Generation Science Standards.

 

Part 1: Analyzing the Data

This activity consists of 12 forced-choice questions organized into four Question Groups. Students must analyze data and draw conclusions that are supported by the data. Students earn the Trophy for this activity once they demonstrate mastery on all four Question Groups. 


NGSS Claim Statement: Analyze and interpret data for an experiment that probes the relationship between work and change in energy for the motion of a cart from the same initial height to the same final height along different pathways.

 

Target DCI(s)	Target SEP(s)	Target CCC(s)
Definitions of Energy PS3.A That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms.   Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer PS3.B Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.	Analyzing and Interpreting Data SEP 4.1 Analyze data using tools, technologies, and/or models (e.g., computational, mathematical) in order to make valid and reliable scientific claims or determine an optimal design solution. Planning and Carrying Out Investigations SEP 3.5 Make directional hypotheses that specify what happens to a dependent variable when an independent variable is manipulated.	Systems and System Models CCC 4.1 When investigating or describing a system, the boundaries and initial conditions of the system need to be defined and their inputs and outputs analyzed and described using models. Cause and Effect CCC 2.1 Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects. Patterns CCC 1.2 Empirical evidence is needed to identify patterns.

 

Part 2: To the Hill Top

This activity consists of 12 forced-choice questions organized into four Question Groups. Students must generate a model based on energy to explain the results of the lab investigation from Part 1. Students earn the Trophy for this activity once they demonstrate mastery on all four Question Groups. 
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NGSS Claim Statement: Utilize mathematical operations and tools to perform calculations of the various forms of energy in order to explain that the connection between energy inputs to the system and the changes in energy within the system.

 

Target DCI(s)	Target SEP(s)	Target CCC(s)
Definitions of Energy PS3.A That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms. Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer PS3.B Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.	Developing and Using Models SEP 2.3 Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions SEP 6.3 Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.	Energy and Matter CCC 5.4 Energy cannot be created or destroyed—it only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

 




 

Part 3: To the Summit

This activity consists of 12 forced-choice questions organized into four Question Groups. Students revise their model to explain the movement of a car up a hill along different paths to the same-height summit. Students earn the Trophy for this activity once they demonstrate mastery on all four Question Groups. 
​
NGSS Claim Statement: Revise a model of energy conservation and energy transfer to make predictions of changes in the various forms of energy of a system when given information about the system's initial and final states.

 

Target DCI(s)	Target SEP(s)	Target CCC(s)
Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer PS3.B Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.   Definitions of Energy PS3.A At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy.	Developing and Using Models SEP 2.3 Develop, revise, and/or use a model based on evidence to illustrate and/or predict the relationships between systems or between components of a system. Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions SEP 6.3 Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.	Systems and System Models CCC 4.2 Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) can be used to simulate systems and interactions—including energy, matter, and information flows—within and between systems at different scales.

 


 

Part 4: Explaining the Data

This activity consists of a paragraph with seven blanks (missing phrases). Students select words and phrases from a a collection of options to complete a paragraph in which they explain the results of the experiment. Students earn the Trophy for this activity once they accurate complete the seven blanks in the paragraph. 
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NGSS Claim Statement: Use scientific terms like kinetic energy and potential energy to construct a description and an explanation of the changes in the various manifestations of energy as a cart is pulled up an inclined plane along different paths to the same height. 

 

Target DCI(s)	Target SEP(s)	Target CCC(s)
Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer PS3.B Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.   Definitions of Energy PS3.A At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy.	Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions SEP 6.3 Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena and solve design problems, taking into account possible unanticipated effects.	Energy and Matter CCC 5.3 Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system. Systems and System Models CCC 4.2 Models (e.g., physical, mathematical, computer models) can be used to simulate systems and interactions—including energy, matter, and information flows—within and between systems at different scales.

 


 








Complementary and Similar Resources
The following resources at The Physics Classroom website complement the It's All Uphill Science Reasoning Activity. Teachers may find them useful for supporting students and/or as components of lesson plans and unit plans.

The Physics Classroom Tutorial, Work, Energy and Power Chapter

Physics Video Tutorial, Work, Energy, and Power: Mechanical Energy Conservation

Physics Video Tutorial, Work, Energy, and Power: Force and System Analysis

Physics Interactives, Work and Energy: Roller Coaster Model

Physics Interactives, Work and Energy: Chart That Motion

Concept Builders, Work and Energy: What's Up and Down with KE and PE?

Concept Builders, Work and Energy: Words and Charts

Concept Builders, Work and Energy: LOL Charts

Concept Builders, Work and Energy: Energy Analysis 1

Minds On Physics, Work and Energy Module: Mission WE6, Energy Bar Charts

Minds On Physics, Work and Energy Module: Mission WE8, Energy Analysis

The Calculator Pad, Work, Energy, and Power: Problem Sets WE6 - WE14