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4th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 11

Energy, Speed & Collisions

Faster things have more energy.

What your child practices

Practices how an object's speed relates to its energy, what happens to energy when objects collide, and devices that change energy from one form to another.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 4-PS3-1; 4-PS3-3; 4-PS3-4 · speed and energy, energy changes in collisions, and devices that convert energy

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Faster objects have more energy.
  2. Stored energy can change into motion, light, heat or sound.
  3. In a collision, energy moves between objects, and they change speed or direction.
  4. Rubbing things together turns motion into heat.

Example: A rolling ball hits a ball that is sitting still. What happens to the still ball? The moving ball passes some of its energy on. Answer: it starts moving

Energy, Speed & Collisions in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 6 of 11 in 4th grade Science, after Energy on the Move and before Waves & Codes.

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

    A rubber band car moves when the band unwinds. Stored energy becomes…

    • motion energy
    • sound only
    • light energy
    • food

  2. Question 2

    When a moving marble hits a still marble, the still marble…

    • stays still always
    • melts
    • starts moving
    • disappears

  3. Question 3

    Rubbing your hands together makes…

    • sound only
    • heat
    • ice
    • light

  4. Question 4

    Which has the most energy of motion?

    • A bike parked
    • A truck parked
    • A truck going fast
    • A ball resting

  5. Question 5

    A wind turbine changes wind energy into…

    • electrical energy
    • ice
    • food
    • light only

  6. Question 6

    A hydroelectric dam turns the energy of moving water into…

    • sunlight
    • wind
    • electrical energy
    • food

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