Kinetic vs. Sound vs. Thermal: ET

In a previous post I talked about a group of teachers using energy cubes to debate the types and locations of energy involved in a ruler striking a metal ring.  That activity took place in the afternoon.  Earlier that day the same teachers had used energy theater to represent the same scenario.  Here are those videos.

Negotiating ET
The following video shows groups 2, 6, and 7 planning out their ET.

Episode Title: E1 120807 1150 PM Mic2 KE vs SE_pre

We see Mary being concerned with where the sound energy goes (what object(s) have sound energy) just as she is during the small group work later in the day.  We also see Julie and Joe put forward the idea that kinetic energy, sound energy, and thermal energy are all maybe the same thing.  In the large group Mary and Julie do not get to dig into their questions the way they do later in their individual group.

In the ET setting Alia and Steve repeatedly speak loudly and with confidence leading the rest of the group to accept their suggestions.  Mary does ask several times about whether there should be sound energy in the floor, however there are no prolonged discussions along these lines.  This is also the very first time these teachers have done ET (except for Joe and Alia who previously took UE1) so there may be some extra confusion in trying to negotiate both the science and the new representation.

ET Performance
This group is the third and final group to perform their ET for the rest of the class.  In the video Steve will make a last minute suggestion about straddling two objects.

Episode Title: E1 120807 1150 PM Mic2 ET Straddling

Steve was sort of the leader throughout this ET session for this group and so in the moment I think most people were inclined to just go with his straddling idea.  There was some joking about the straddling being all Steve's idea but the following question from Dan (which is a FANTASTIC question aimed at decoupling science ideas from representational choices) suggests that many people in the group saw some appeal in the straddling idea.

Episode Title: E1 120807 1150 PM Mic2 Would You Still Straddle

These videos do not immediately give me any new insight into the kinetic vs. sound vs. thermal debate but I wanted to share the full interaction since the previous post chronicled discussions that followed the ET shown here.  The straddling and "interaction" aspects of sound should probably be unpacked in a separate post.  I will say that these clips give me an even greater respect for Mary and how she kept pushing the issue of where the sound energy goes from the morning through the afternoon.