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4th grade · Science · Unit 5 of 11

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 4-PS3-2 · energy moving from place to place by sound, light, heat and electric currents

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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 5 of 11 in 4th grade Science, after Adaptations & Habitats 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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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 sense detects light?

    • smell
    • sight
    • touch

  2. Question 2

    Which sense detects sound?

    • taste
    • hearing
    • sight

  3. Question 3

    A solar panel collects energy from…

    • wind only
    • sunlight
    • sound only

  4. Question 4

    A phone charger moves energy from the outlet to…

    • the phone's battery
    • the lamp
    • your hand

  5. Question 5

    A flashlight shows light energy from…

    • the battery
    • the Moon
    • the soil

  6. Question 6

    A campfire gives off which two kinds of energy you can sense?

    • sound and soil
    • heat and light
    • wind and ice

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