What is this skill?
Energy is what makes things move, light up, heat up or make sound. It comes in forms, and fourth graders learn four of the most common: light, heat, sound and motion. A flashlight gives light, a campfire gives heat, a bell gives sound and a rolling ball has motion. The key idea is that energy does not just appear. It changes from one form to another.
In this practice a child answers questions such as "Which one gives us light energy?" (the sun), "A drum makes which kind of energy?" (sound), "Rub your hands together fast. What do you feel?" (heat) and "Where do plants get their energy?" (sunlight). A sort asks light, heat or sound, and another asks what needs electricity: a lamp, a TV and a microwave, against a bicycle, a book and a drum. The questions about change are the heart of the skill. A toaster turns electrical energy mostly into heat. A battery stores energy, and a toy turns it into motion, light or sound. After breakfast, food energy becomes motion energy in a race. A wind turbine turns the motion of moving air into electricity, and a light bulb also gives off some heat. Sound is made by vibrations, and light travels in straight lines. You see lightning before you hear thunder because light travels faster than sound.
Why it matters
Energy is one of the big organizing ideas in science, and it appears in physics, chemistry, biology and earth science. A child who understands that energy changes form can follow a food chain, a power plant and a roller coaster with the same idea.
It also links to real life and to choices. Knowing that a light bulb makes some heat, or that electricity powers a lamp but not a bicycle, helps children think about where energy comes from and how it is used.
The change-of-form questions are a first lesson in cause and effect across systems, where one thing becomes another, which is good practice for all kinds of reasoning.
Common mistakes
- Thinking energy is used up and gone. It changes form. The energy in food becomes motion, and some becomes heat that warms the body.
- Believing sound travels faster than light. Light is much faster, which is why a flash of lightning arrives before the thunder.
- Thinking a battery makes energy from nothing. It stores energy that gets used as the toy runs.
- Mixing up what makes sound. Sound comes from vibrations, and you can feel them by touching your throat while you hum.
How to help at home
- Hunt for energy changes around the house. A toaster, a lamp, a fan and a radio each turn electricity into something else. Ask what.
- Hum with your fingers on your throat, or stretch a rubber band and pluck it, to feel and see a vibration make sound.
- During a storm, count the seconds between a flash and the thunder with your child, and ask why the flash comes first.
- Do a round of jumping jacks. Ask your child where their energy came from and what it turned into.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus forms of energy practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
Energy is what makes things move, light up, heat up or make sound.
Answer: True. True! Energy is the ability to make things happen: motion, light, heat and sound are all forms of energy.
Example 2
A toaster turns electrical energy mostly into ___.
Choices: Heat, Sound, Wind
Answer: Heat. A toaster turns electricity into heat. The glowing wires also give off a little light.
Example 3
A wind turbine turns ___ energy into electricity.
Choices: Light, Motion, from moving air, Sound
Answer: Motion, from moving air. Moving air pushes the blades. That motion energy is changed into electrical energy.
Printable worksheet (PDF) — one page of questions from this practice that work on paper, easier ones first, with an answer key on page 2. Free to print, no sign-up.