Middle Years Programme Unit Planner

Teacher(s) Theophilus Sarpong Subject group and Sciences - Physics

discipline

Unit title Heat and light MYP Year 3 Unit duration 8-10
(weeks)

Inquiry: Establishing the purpose of the unit

Key Concept Related Concept(s) Global Context

Systems Environment, Development Globalization and sustainability

Statement of Inquiry

Our environment is governed by the behavior of heat and light.

Inquiry Questions

Factual:
What is heat?
What is light?

Conceptual:
How is heat and light important to us?

Debatable:
Which is more important, heat or light?

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Objectives
Objective A: Knowing and
Understanding
i. explain scientific knowledge
ii. apply scientific knowledge and
understanding to solve
problems set in familiar and
unfamiliar situations
iii. analyse and evaluate
information to make
scientifically supported
judgments.
Objective B: Inquiring and Designing
i. explain a problem or question to
be tested by a scientific
investigation
ii. formulate a testable hypothesis
and explain it using scientific
reasoning
iii. explain how to manipulate the
variables, and explain how data
will be collected.
iv. design scientific investigations.
Objective C: Processing and Evaluating
i. present collected and
transformed data
ii. interpret data and explain
results using scientific reasoning
iii. evaluate the validity of a
hypothesis based on the
outcome of the scientific
investigation
Summative Assessment
Outline of summative assessment Relationship between summative
task(s) including assessment criteria: assessment task(s) and statement of
inquiry:
Goal – Build a solar farm
The summative test will help students
Role – You are a farmer understand how our environment is
governed by the behavior of heat and light.
Audience – Your audience is the residents
of your local town
Situation – Persuade residents in your
local town on the benefits of building a
solar farm.
Product – You need to write a letter to
persuade residents in your local town on
the benefits of building a solar farm.
Standard – Your letter must:
 Describe how photovoltaic panels
work.
 Explain the energy transfer
involved in photovoltaic panels.
 Describe some advantages of using
photovoltaic panels to generate
electricity over alternative
methods.
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iv. evaluate the validity of the

method
v. explain improvements or
extensions to the method.
Objective D: Reflecting on impacts of
Science
i. explain the ways in which science
is applied and used to address a
specific problem or issue
ii. discuss and evaluate the various
implications of the use of science
and its application in solving a
specific problem or issue
iii. apply scientific language effectively
iv. document the work of others and
sources of information used.

Approaches to learning (ATL)

Self-management skills:
Emotional management

Action: Teaching and learning through inquiry

Content Learning Process

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 What is heat?
 What is temperature?
 How can heat energy be
transferred?
 What is conduction?
 How fast does heat energy
conduct?
 What is radiation?
 What affects the rate of
radiation?
 What is light?
 How does light behave?
 How does light reflect?
 When is light reflected?
 How can light appear as
different colors?
 How do different surfaces
appear different colors?
 What are primary and
secondary colors?
 How do we use the sun’s
energy?
Learning experiences and teaching strategies
Week 1 Introduction
 Concepts, global context, statement of inquiry,
inquiry questions; discuss these in class to establish
the tone of the unit.
 Origin of heat energy
Week 2: Temperature and conduction
 What is temperature?
 Temperature scales
 Transfer of heat energy
 Thermal conductors and insulators
 Rate of conduction and temperature gradient
Week 3: Radiation
 Cooling curve experiment
 Radiation
 Electromagnetic spectrum
 Rate of radiation
Week 4: Light
 Visible light
 Behavior of light
 Reflection of light
 Visible light spectrum
Week 5: Colors
 Primary and secondary colors
 Importance of the sun’s heat and light
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 Relevance of the sun’s energy

Formative assessment
Formative Assessment class discussion on key terms and
research of.
Worksheets on planets, moons, stars and origin of the
universe.
Class discussion on the application of gravity and lenses in
astronomy.

Differentiation
Students will delegate tasks to individual strengths within
group.
Students can use a variety of digital platforms to present
their summative project.
Modalities of learning will include, visual, auditory,
collaborative and kinesthetic.
Students get to choose what lenses they would like to
represent during their report.
Students can choose what slide they would like to present
during presentation.
Recommended resources will be provided that are not
mandatory for students to use but will act as a guide.

Resources

 MYP Physical and Earth Sciences, A concept-based approach by William Heathcote

 National Geographic website
 Crash course Physics
 Fuseschool Physics

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 Don’t memorise
 Britannica School

Reflection: Considering the planning process and impact of the inquiry

Prior to teaching the unit During teaching After teaching the unit

Why do we think that the unit or the

selection of topics will be interesting?
Students see changes in the sky everyday.
The most common change is day and night.
They see the moon and stars at night. They
experience changes in the seasons
throughout the year. They might also have
observed that some countries are in
different time-zones and also wondered
how and when the universe began and will
end. So this unit touches on real life
experiences that the students have had and
also helps them get some answers to the
questions that have been on their minds for
long.

What do students already know, and

what can they do?
Students already know the sun is seen in
the sky at day and the moon is seen at
night. Students also know there are other
big “homes” other than the earth. They will
be able understand the position and sizes of
objects in our solar system and come up
with a model of it.

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