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4th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 8

Energy, Speed & Collisions

Faster things have more energy.

What your child practices

Practices how an object's speed relates to its energy, what happens to energy when objects collide, and devices that change energy from one form to another.

Alaska content standards learning standard: 4-PS3-1; 4-PS3-3; 4-PS3-4 · speed and energy, energy changes in collisions, and devices that convert energy

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Faster objects have more energy.
  2. Stored energy can change into motion, light, heat or sound.
  3. In a collision, energy moves between objects, and they change speed or direction.
  4. Rubbing things together turns motion into heat.

Example: A rolling ball hits a ball that is sitting still. What happens to the still ball? The moving ball passes some of its energy on. Answer: it starts moving

Energy, Speed & Collisions in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 6 of 8 in 4th grade Science, after Energy on the Move and before Waves & Codes.

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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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

    A faster-moving bike hits a curb. Compared with a slow bike it has…

    • the same energy
    • no energy
    • less energy
    • more energy

  2. Question 2

    When two cars bump, you hear a sound. The sound shows…

    • nothing happened
    • some energy turned into sound
    • energy grew
    • energy disappeared

  3. Question 3

    A ball rolls faster down a steeper ramp. It has…

    • less energy
    • no speed
    • no energy
    • more energy

  4. Question 4

    Which has the most energy of motion?

    • A truck going fast
    • A truck parked
    • A bike parked
    • A ball resting

  5. Question 5

    Which ball has more energy of motion?

    • A slow ball
    • A fast ball
    • A ball in a box
    • A ball that is still

  6. Question 6

    To test speed and energy, you roll a ball from different ramp heights into a cup. What do you measure?

    • The ball's name
    • How far the cup moves
    • The color of the cup
    • The room's temperature

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