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5th grade · Science · Unit 7 of 12

Energy from the Sun

Plants grow from air and water, and food energy starts with the sun.

What your child practices

Practices how plants get the materials they need for growth mostly from air and water, and how the energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 5.7; 5.8 · plants grow mostly from air and water, and the energy in food once came from the sun

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Plants make their own food from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air.
  2. Most food-making happens in the leaves, and plants give off oxygen.
  3. Plants get mostly water from the soil, not their food.
  4. The energy in all food first comes from the sun.

Example: You eat an apple. Where did its energy first come from? The apple tree made food using sunlight. So the energy started with the sun. Answer: the sun

Energy from the Sun in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 7 of 12 in 5th grade Science, after Physical or Chemical? and before Protecting Resources.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Your body uses food energy to…

    • make rain
    • grow leaves
    • keep you warm
    • make sunlight

  2. Question 2

    Animals that eat plants get energy that came from…

    • the sun
    • the wind
    • the soil
    • the moon

  3. Question 3

    Most of a plant's mass comes from…

    • rocks
    • soil
    • air and water
    • sunlight itself

  4. Question 4

    Where in a plant does most food making happen?

    • Flowers
    • Leaves
    • Bark
    • Roots

  5. Question 5

    Which is a producer?

    • Grass
    • Deer
    • Mushroom
    • Wolf

  6. Question 6

    Why do animals eat more in cold weather?

    • Food is colder
    • They grow leaves
    • They need energy to stay warm
    • They photosynthesize

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