Representing energy. I. Representing a substance ontology for energy
Rachel E. Scherr, Hunter G. Close, Sarah B. McKagan, Stamatis Vokos · Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research · 2012
The nature of energy is not typically an explicit topic of physics instruction. Nonetheless, verbal and graphical representations of energy articulate models in which energy is conceptualized as a quasimaterial substance, a stimulus, or a vertical location. We argue that a substance ontology for energy is particularly productive in developing understanding of energy transfers and transformations. We analyze classic representations of energy---bar charts, pie charts, and others---to determine the energy ontologies that are implicit in those representations, and thus their affordances for energy learning. We find that while existing representations partially support a substance ontology for energy and thus the learning goal of energy conservation, they have limited utility for tracking the flow of energy among objects.