4th grade · Science · Unit 7 of 8
Energy Resources
Sun, water and fuels for making electricity
What your child practices
How electricity is made from renewable resources (sunlight, moving water, wind) and nonrenewable ones (coal, oil, natural gas, uranium), and the trade-offs of each, with Arizona examples: solar farms, the Palo Verde nuclear plant and the dams on the Colorado River.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 4.P4U3.4 · the use and impact of renewable and nonrenewable resources to generate electricity
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Renewable resources, like sunlight and moving water, won't run out.
- Nonrenewable resources, like oil, will run out someday.
- Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam make electricity from moving water.
- Save energy by turning off lights you aren't using.
Example: Which will run out someday: sunlight or oil? The sun keeps shining every day. Oil took millions of years to form. Answer: oil
Energy Resources in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 7 of 8 in 4th grade Science, after Rock Layers & Erosion and before Natural Hazards.
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.
Question 1
Why are coal and natural gas called nonrenewable?
- they take millions of years to form and can run out
- they are made by the sun every day
- they come from the wind
they take millions of years to form and can run out
Hint: Once we use them, they are gone.
Question 2
Which is a renewable resource?
- Oil
- Sunlight
- Coal
- Natural gas
Sunlight
Hint: It won't run out.
Question 3
Which is a nonrenewable resource?
- Wind
- Sunlight
- Coal
- Moving water
Coal
Hint: It takes millions of years to form.
Question 4
The Palo Verde power plant west of Phoenix makes electricity from…
- nuclear energy
- burning wood
- wind
nuclear energy
Hint: It is one of the biggest power plants in the US.
Question 5
Which helps save energy at home?
- Run water all day
- Leave the TV on all night
- Open the fridge often
- Turn off lights you aren't using
Turn off lights you aren't using
Hint: Use less.
Question 6
Which resource is renewable if we plant new trees?
- Coal
- Oil
- Wood
- Natural gas
Wood
Hint: Trees can regrow.