• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Faster objects have more energy). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. A bowling ball is rolled slowly, then quickly. When does it knock down more pins? (it never knocks pins down / when it is rolled slowly / when it is rolled quickly / it is always the same) → when it is rolled quicklyPrompt: Which ball has more energy to transfer?
2. True or false? The faster an object moves, the more energy it has. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Compare the same object at different speeds.
3. Why does a fast-moving football hurt more to stop than a slow one? (It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands. / Fast balls are hotter. / Slow balls have no energy. / It is heavier when it moves fast.) → It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands.Prompt: What changes when the ball speeds up?

• Wind up a toy or stretch an elastic band and ask where the energy goes.
• Share the objective: Where does the energy go when things collide?. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Two toy cars crash. You hear a bang and the bumpers get slightly warm. Where did some of the motion energy go?
• Step 1: In a collision, motion energy is transferred to sound, heat and the motion of the other object.
• Step 2: So the answer is: into sound and heat
• Answer: into sound and heat
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Two toy cars crash. You hear a bang and the bumpers get slightly warm. Where did some of the motion energy go? (it was destroyed / into light only / into the air as wind / into sound and heat) → into sound and heatPrompt: Energy is not lost; it is transferred.
2. Which energy transfer does this example mainly show: a hammer and nail getting warm after hammering? (sound / heat / motion of another object) → heatPrompt: Do you hear it, feel it warm up, or see something else start moving?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. A moving snooker ball hits a still one head-on. The first stops and the second rolls away. What happened to the energy? (It went back into the cue. / The second ball made new energy. / It vanished. / It was transferred from the first ball to the second.) → It was transferred from the first ball to the second.Prompt: The first ball stopped; the second started moving.
2. Which energy transfer does this example mainly show: brake pads getting hot? (sound / heat / motion of another object) → heatPrompt: Do you hear it, feel it warm up, or see something else start moving?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-4.