Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 minutes
Faster objects have more energy
Energy
CCSS NGSS.4-PS3-1England: KS3 Physics: Energy (energy changes and transfers)
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Faster objects have more energy.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Energy stores and transfers
Leads to: Where does the energy go when things collide?
Materials: Wind-up toys or a pendulum, Energy transfer diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Energy stores and transfers). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Which energy store is most important here: water behind a high dam? (thermal (heat) / gravitational potential (height) / elastic potential (stretch or squash) / chemical) → gravitational potential (height)Prompt: Is it moving, raised up, stretched, hot, or able to release energy by reacting?
- Which are ways energy can be transferred? (only by fire / by heating, by electric current, by light and sound, by forces / only by wires / energy cannot move) → by heating, by electric current, by light and sound, by forcesPrompt: Think of a lamp, a speaker and a kettle.
- Which of these mainly has a gravitational potential (height) energy store? (a sandwich / a battery / a running dog / a child at the top of a slide) → a child at the top of a slidePrompt: Think about what each object is doing.
Hook · 5 min
- Wind up a toy or stretch an elastic band and ask where the energy goes.
- Share the objective: Faster objects have more energy. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Why does a fast-moving football hurt more to stop than a slow one?
- Step 1: The faster an object moves, the more kinetic (motion) energy it has.
- Step 2: So the answer is: It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands.
- Answer: It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands.
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Why do roads near schools have low speed limits? (Slower cars have less energy, so they stop more quickly and cause less harm if they crash. / Speed does not change a car's energy. / Slow cars use more fuel. / Fast cars are quieter.) → Slower cars have less energy, so they stop more quickly and cause less harm if they crash.Prompt: How does speed affect the energy a car carries?
- True or false? A slow ball has more energy than the same ball moving fast. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Compare the same object at different speeds.
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- 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.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- True or false? A slow ball has more energy than the same ball moving fast. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Compare the same object at different speeds.
- A bowling ball is rolled slowly, then quickly. When does it knock down more pins? (it never knocks pins down / it is always the same / when it is rolled slowly / when it is rolled quickly) → when it is rolled quicklyPrompt: Which ball has more energy to transfer?
Watch out for
- Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
- Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Energy stores and transfers.
- Use concrete materials: wind-up toys or a pendulum.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Where does the energy go when things collide?.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-4.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder