OpenSciEd Elem 4.1 (Grade 4 energy/collisions) - fourth OpenSciEd unit confirming program-wide pattern: 92.9% practices (high) + 0% Foundation. Seven explicit atom-deferrals in About the Science. Four-for-four across four grade levels (light, matter, forces, energy).
| Program | OpenSciEd Elementary |
| Unit | Grade 4, Unit 4.1: Why does an object's motion change? (Energy Transfer: Collisions) |
| Publisher | OpenSciEd |
| Author | OpenSciEd Curriculum Development Team |
| Grade Band | Grade 4 (K-5 calibration applied) |
| NGSS Alignment | 4-PS3-1, 4-PS3-3 |
OpenSciEd Elementary Unit 4.1 scores Foundation 0% - at the framework floor, identical to OpenSciEd Units 1.1, 2.2, and 3.1. Zero map errors across 33 student-facing passages. Zero confirmed FSEs after rigorous review. The adjusted gap is 100% - all 15 mechanism passages are UNSCAFFOLDED because the unit contains no atomic, molecular, or particulate content. This is explicit author intent. The "About the Science" section makes seven distinct deferrals: (1) particle model of air, (2) air molecule motion (kinetic theory of heat), (3) potential/kinetic energy, (4) conservation of energy, (5) elastic/inelastic collisions, (6) friction/sliding contact forces, (7) quantitative speed calculation. Every one of these is what an atoms-first scope would put at the center of an energy unit.
Practices score 92.9% green - high, matching OpenSciEd 1.1, 2.2, 3.1. OpenSciEd's pattern is now four-for-four confirmed across four grade levels and four NGSS bundles (G1 light, G2 matter/engineering, G3 forces/magnets, G4 energy/collisions): consistent strong inquiry pedagogy + consistent floor-level Foundation. OpenSciEd Elementary is the single most internally consistent example of NGSS-faithful K-5 inquiry that defers atoms by design.
The unit is organized around two lesson sets across 12 lessons. In Lesson Set 1 (Lessons 1-9), students investigate collisions, force, and energy transfer. In Lesson Set 2 (Lessons 10-12), they explore sound and heat as additional evidence of energy transfer.
Lessons 1-9 (Collisions, force, energy transfer): Lesson 1 anchors on a kicked soccer ball. Lesson 2 broadens to hockey and marbles and builds the Driving Question Board. Lesson 3 reactivates Grade 3 contact-force vocabulary - "A collision is when two things come together with force." Lessons 4-5 introduce fair-test methodology and the central science move: "a bigger kick transfers more energy to the ball, causing it to move faster." Lessons 6-7 extend to two-ball collisions. Lesson 8 tests surfaces and explains slowing-down ("a ball rolling on a 'plushy' surface like grass slows down because it transfers energy to move the grass"). Lesson 9 synthesizes via a Gotta-Have-It Checklist.
Lessons 10-12 (Sound and heat): Lesson 10 introduces sound as evidence of energy transfer. Lesson 11 introduces heat via metal collision balls (burning paper) and pennies-in-cup shaking. Energy is redefined from "the ability to move or make something move" to "the ability to do something or cause a change." Lesson 12 is the summative - students apply the model to a new context.
"4-PS3-1 Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object. 4-PS3-3 Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide." (Unit Overview, p. 14)
The NGSS PE bundle - both expectations target observable energy-motion relationships.
"Our goal is to expand their understanding to be able to describe how energy is related to contact forces and observable changes in the motion and shape of tangible (i.e., observable, macroscale) objects." (About the Science, p. 39)
The explicit scope statement. Energy bounded to the macroscale.
The teacher background notes students "do not yet have a particle model of air," so the unit does not elaborate on surroundings — focusing instead on sound as "evidence of energy transferring from one object to another." (About the Science, p. 41)
The cleanest single statement of the unit's atom-deferral choice.
"At this grade level, we do not expect students to explain how air molecules move faster when they have more energy, thus increasing the air temperature." (About the Science, p. 41)
Explicit deferral of the kinetic theory of heat - author voice names air molecules but excludes them from student explanations.
"A collision transfers energy. When a ruler collides with a ball, the ruler transfers its energy to the ball. The force between the ball and the ruler transfers energy to the ball. We know this because the ball started moving." (Lesson 5)
Central macroscopic mechanism. Correct K-4 physics.
"Heat is evidence of energy transfer in collisions. The motion of an object changes because of energy transferred to other objects, the surface, and to the surroundings as heat and sound." (Lesson 11)
Heat as energy-transfer evidence.
Practices: 92.9% (green tier - high, fourth OpenSciEd unit to match). Six of seven NGSS practices are PRESENT; mathematics is PARTIAL. Distinctive strengths: (1) five Intentionally Developed Practices (Asking Questions, Developing Models, Planning & Carrying Out Investigations, Analyzing & Interpreting Data, Constructing Explanations); (2) Driving Question Board maintained across the entire 12-lesson arc; (3) Class Consensus Model revised after L3, L5, L10, L11; (4) Kick Investigation System reused across multiple lessons as a stable physical system model; (5) Gotta-Have-It Checklists built and revised L9, L12; (6) two Intentionally Developed Crosscutting Concepts (Patterns, Cause and Effect). Mathematics is PARTIAL by NGSS-aligned design.
Option A (lift to Rewrite, ~30-50%): Add one teacher's note in Lesson 5 EXPLAIN: "Everything in the world is made of tiny pieces called atoms. When the foot collides with the ball, what's really happening is that atoms in the foot push on atoms in the ball, and that's how energy gets transferred."
Option B (lift to Conditional, ~60-70%): Add one teacher's note in Lesson 11 explaining the kinetic theory link: "When we feel heat, what we are really feeling is that atoms in the warmer object are moving faster than they were before." About the Science already explicitly defers this idea - Option B would un-defer it.
Option C (push to Recommended, ~80%+): Restructure Lesson 5 energy definition to include atomic-contact origins of forces; restructure Lesson 11 to introduce kinetic theory of heat; restructure Lesson 10 to introduce air as particulate.
| Total Passages Scored | 33 |
| Raw Gap Error | 100.0% (zero atomic content in unit) FALSE = atoms/molecules not present before students are asked to explain. The student is navigating without a starting point. |
| Adjusted Gap Error | 100.0% (all 15 mechanism passages UNSCAFFOLDED - atoms explicitly deferred; seven distinct deferrals in About the Science) UNSCAFFOLDED = no atomic grounding at all. LESSON_ATOMS = atoms mentioned elsewhere in lesson but not connected to this concept. |
| Substance-Model Errors (REI) | 0 Curriculum treats a process or outcome as a substance - "heat flows," "energy is stored," "electricity flows like water." Student builds a substance ontology. |
| Label-as-Explanation (LAE) | 0 Curriculum provides a name and treats it as an explanation - "this happens because of gravity." Student believes knowing the name IS understanding the concept. |
| Vague-Entity Errors (AEC) | 0 Curriculum uses vague entities ("tiny particles," "building blocks") without specifying atoms or molecules. Student invents their own model with macroscopic properties. |
| Factual Science Errors (FSE) | 0 Statements that are scientifically incorrect - not imprecise framing, but wrong. Any confirmed FSE = Not Recommended. |
| Practices | 92.9% - Deep Seven practices scored PRESENT, PARTIAL, or ABSENT and averaged: asking questions, developing and using models, planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics, constructing explanations and designing solutions, and argument from evidence. Higher is better, the opposite direction from gap and map errors. Reported but not part of the Foundation Score or the verdict. |
OpenSciEd Elementary 4.1 is an OpenSciEd unit and confirms a now-rock-solid program-wide pattern: strong inquiry pedagogy + floor-level Foundation, across four grade levels and four distinct NGSS bundles. This is a pronounced practices-vs-foundation split, and OpenSciEd Elementary is the program where the gap is most internally consistent.
Exemplary inquiry pedagogy. Five Intentionally Developed Practices. Driving Question Board across 12 lessons. Class Consensus Model revised L3,5,10,11. Kick Investigation System reused as stable physical model. Gotta-Have-It Checklists in L9, L12. Two Intentionally Developed Crosscutting Concepts (Patterns, Cause-Effect). Sensemaking questions "Where does energy come from? Where does energy go?" carry across all 12 lessons.
shallow by design - Zero MISCONCEPTION_BY_DESIGN flags. Energy correctly framed as a transferable quantity (process language, not substance language). Forces correctly framed as pushes/pulls between objects. Heat and sound correctly framed as evidence of energy transfer. Seven explicit boundaries (particle model of air, air molecules, kinetic energy, potential energy, conservation, elastic/inelastic collisions, friction) all consistent with NGSS K-5 scope.
Evidence for every entry is published at three levels. Each level states what it contains and what it leaves out.
Scores, verdict, and the full pattern count for this unit are above: adjusted gap, REI / LAE / AEC counts, FSE status, and the seven-practice score. The analysis quotes 6 passages verbatim from the curriculum.
This file covers the unit scored on this page.
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