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5th grade · Science · Unit 5 of 15

Forms of Energy

Energy changes form

What your child practices

Kinetic and potential energy, how energy changes from one form to another, and why some energy always escapes as heat, light or sound.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.8(A) · energy transformations in systems such as a flashlight

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Kinetic energy is the energy of motion.
  2. Potential energy is stored. Higher objects have more gravitational potential energy.
  3. Springs, food and batteries also store energy.
  4. Energy changes form. Friction turns motion into heat.

Example: Which has more potential energy: a ball on the floor or a ball on a table? Higher objects have more gravitational potential energy. The table is higher than the floor. Answer: the ball on the table

Forms of Energy in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 5 of 15 in 5th grade Science, after Forces, Friction and Machines and before Light.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    Energy stored in food and fuel is called…

    • light energy
    • chemical energy
    • sound energy

  2. Question 2

    In a flashlight, put the energy changes in order.

    • ⚡Electrical energy flows through the wires
    • 🔋Chemical energy stored in the battery
    • 💡Light energy shines from the bulb

  3. Question 3

    In a hydroelectric station, which is the correct chain of energy changes?

    • Gravitational potential → kinetic → electrical
    • Light → sound → electrical
    • Electrical → kinetic → chemical

  4. Question 4

    You rub your hands together and they feel warm. Kinetic energy changed into…

    • light energy
    • thermal energy
    • chemical energy

  5. Question 5

    A light bulb is 10% efficient and wastes most energy as heat. What does that mean?

    • Only a little of the electrical energy becomes light
    • All of the energy becomes light
    • The bulb makes more energy than it uses

  6. Question 6

    A plant uses light energy to make sugar. What form of energy is stored in the sugar?

    • Thermal energy only
    • Sound energy
    • Chemical energy

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