Subscribe

5th grade · Science · Unit 8 of 10

Energy on the Move

How energy moves and how we sense it

What your child practices

Practices energy sources, how energy moves from a source to an object or living thing to cause action, and how people use their senses to detect heat, light and sound.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 5P.2.1.1.1 · energy moving from place to place as sound, light, heat and electric current

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Energy moves from place to place, like from food to you, or from an outlet to a battery.
  2. We sense energy: eyes see light, ears hear sound and skin feels heat.
  3. Some devices change energy to help us, like a smoke alarm making sound.

Example: Which sense notices the bright light of a lamp? Light energy is sensed by your eyes. Answer: sight

Energy on the Move in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 10 in 5th grade Science, after Energy from the Sun and before Energy, Speed & Collisions.

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

    A fan uses electricity to…

    • make cheese
    • grow plants
    • move air

  2. Question 2

    A flashlight shows light energy from…

    • the soil
    • the battery
    • the Moon

  3. Question 3

    When you plug in a lamp, what does the electricity do?

    • It makes the room cold
    • It gives energy for light
    • It stays in the plug

  4. Question 4

    What is energy?

    • something that can make things move or change
    • a kind of rock
    • a kind of animal

  5. Question 5

    A rolling ball hits a pin and moves it. Energy goes from…

    • the pin to the ball
    • the ball to the pin
    • nowhere

  6. Question 6

    A thermometer helps us detect…

    • heat (temperature)
    • smell
    • sound

More 5th grade