Subscribe

4th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 7

Energy Resources

Where our energy and fuels come from.

What your child practices

Practices how energy and fuels come from natural resources like wind, sunlight, moving water, coal, oil and gas, how using them affects the environment, and how communities choose energy, including Minnesota's wind farms.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 4E.4.2.1.1; 4E.4.2.2.1 · energy and fuels come from natural resources, and how communities use them

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Renewable resources, like sunlight and wind, won't run out.
  2. Nonrenewable resources, like oil and coal, will run out.
  3. Solar panels use sunlight and wind turbines use wind to make electricity.
  4. Dams make electricity but can block fish like salmon.

Example: Gasoline comes from oil. Is it renewable? Oil took millions of years to form. It will run out. Answer: no, it is nonrenewable

Energy Resources in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 7 in 4th grade Science, after Earth's Systems & Water and before Rock Layers & Erosion.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    Corn grown in Minnesota is made into ethanol, a fuel that is…

    • made from sunlight directly
    • a fossil fuel
    • a kind of metal
    • renewable, because new corn can be grown

  2. Question 2

    Which uses wind to make electricity?

    • Solar panel
    • Dam
    • Wind turbine
    • Coal plant

  3. Question 3

    Minnesota has no oil wells of its own, so gasoline for its cars is made from oil that…

    • comes from other places
    • comes from lakes
    • falls as rain
    • grows on farms

  4. Question 4

    Electric cars help air quality most when their electricity comes from…

    • coal
    • burning tires
    • oil
    • renewable sources

  5. Question 5

    Fossil fuels formed from…

    • new rocks
    • ancient plants and animals
    • melted ice
    • moonlight

  6. Question 6

    Energy from moving water is called…

    • solar power
    • hydropower
    • nuclear power
    • wind power

More 4th grade