Subscribe

3rd grade · Science · Unit 6 of 8

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.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 3.L2U1.7; 3.E1U1.4 · the Sun as the main source of energy, and how its energy flows to and among living things

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Plants make food from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air.
  2. Most of a plant's mass comes from air and water, not soil.
  3. The energy in all food first came from the sun.

Example: A deer eats grass. Where did that energy first come from? The grass made food using sunlight. Answer: the sun

Energy from the Sun in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 8 in 3rd grade Science, after Energy on the Move and before Surviving in a Habitat.

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: Arizona Department of Education

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

    Which gas do plants give off?

    • Carbon dioxide only
    • Helium
    • Oxygen
    • Steam only

  2. Question 2

    Which is a producer?

    • Deer
    • Wolf
    • Mushroom
    • Grass

  3. Question 3

    Animals that eat plants get energy that came from…

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

  4. Question 4

    Where in a plant does most food making happen?

    • Bark
    • Roots
    • Flowers
    • Leaves

  5. Question 5

    Most of a plant's mass comes from…

    • air and water
    • sunlight itself
    • soil
    • rocks

  6. Question 6

    Which diagram shows the flow of energy?

    • Sun → grass → cow → person
    • Person → cow → grass → sun
    • Cow → sun → grass
    • Grass → sun → person

More 3rd grade