Prepared hands-on materials, full year grade-specific curriculum, and personalized live professional development designed to support mastery of current state science standards.
Moving Space Debris
One particular challenge to the International Space Station is space debris. More than 500,000 pieces of space debris orbit Earth. The most common space debris orbiting Earth comes from human-made sources, including old spacecraft that are no longer in use.
Space debris poses a challenge to the International Space Station because in space, objects move with a large amount of speed. Speed is the rate at which an object covers distance in a period of time. It is measured in meters per second (m/s).
Most debris travels at speeds of up to 28,164 kilometers (17,500 miles) per hour. At those speeds, even tiny paint flecks can damage structures. This is because moving objects have energy. The faster an object is moving, the more energy it has.
Energy Changes Matter
Energy is the ability to do work. Work is any change in position, speed, or state of matter due to force. Unlike matter, energy is not made up of atoms. However, matter and energy are constantly interacting. Matter can only change when enough energy is present.
Energy is always either being stored or doing work. Energy that is being stored is called potential energy.
There are different forms of energy. For example, all matter has a form of potential energy called chemical energy. This energy is stored in the bonds that hold together atoms and molecules. The reason we eat food is because food contains chemical energy. Our bodies need that chemical energy to survive.
Energy of motion is called kinetic energy. The more kinetic energy something has, the more work it can do. For example, all moving objects have kinetic energy.
Energy can change from one form to another in an energy system. A system is a set of connected, interacting parts that form a more complex whole.
You are an energy system. When you eat food, you absorb that food’s chemical energy. Your body changes some of that chemical energy into kinetic energy when you run, ride a bike, or turn a page of a book. Your body also stores some of the chemical energy so it can be used later.
Transferring Energy
Energy can also be transferred from one object or system to another. When energy is transferred, it moves into or out of an object or system.
Whenever two objects come into contact with one another, they exert a force on each other for a short period of time. This is called a collision. The reason that even tiny paint flecks can damage the International Space Station is that when two objects collide, the force of that collision causes energy to transfer from one object to another.
When a moving object hits another object, the force of the collision transfers energy into the second object. Some energy is also changed into other forms of energy, such as sound. This is why collisions often make loud noises. The force can also transfer energy that changes the objecs’ motion.
KnowAtom incorporates formative and summative assessments designed to make students thinking visible for deeper student-centered learning.
Discover hands-on screens-off core science curriculum for student centered K-8 classrooms. KnowAtom supports classrooms with all hands-on materials, curriculum, and professional development to support mastery of the standards.
