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5th grade · Science · Unit 7 of 9

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.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: 5-PS3-1; 5-LS1-1 · food energy comes from the sun, and plants grow mainly from air and water

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 Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 7 of 9 in 5th grade Science, after Weather and the Water Cycle and before Matter Moves in Ecosystems.

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: Maine 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

    Animals use energy from food to…

    • make soil
    • move, grow and stay warm
    • photosynthesize
    • make sunlight

  2. Question 2

    Green plants are green because of…

    • water
    • chlorophyll
    • sugar
    • soil

  3. Question 3

    Which gas do plants take in from the air to make food?

    • Carbon dioxide
    • Smoke
    • Helium
    • Oxygen

  4. Question 4

    A salmon eats small fish, which ate tiny plankton. The energy started with…

    • the sun
    • the river rocks
    • the salmon
    • the moon

  5. Question 5

    Where does the energy in food first come from?

    • The soil
    • The moon
    • The sun
    • Rocks

  6. Question 6

    If the sun stopped shining, food chains would fail because…

    • plants could not make food
    • rain would stop
    • soil would melt
    • animals would get too warm

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