Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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.
  1. Which energy store is most important here: a child at the top of a slide? (chemical / kinetic (movement) / elastic potential (stretch or squash) / gravitational potential (height)) → gravitational potential (height)Prompt: Is it moving, raised up, stretched, hot, or able to release energy by reacting?
  2. A ball is dropped. Which energy store decreases as it falls? (kinetic / gravitational potential / elastic / nuclear) → gravitational potentialPrompt: It is getting lower.
  3. Which of these mainly has a chemical energy store? (a rolling football / a drawn bow / a book on a high shelf / petrol (gasoline)) → petrol (gasoline)Prompt: Think about what each object is doing.

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. A bowling ball is rolled slowly, then quickly. When does it knock down more pins? (it is always the same / when it is rolled slowly / when it is rolled quickly / it never knocks pins down) → when it is rolled quicklyPrompt: Which ball has more energy to transfer?
  2. True or false? A still object has no energy of motion. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Compare the same object at different speeds.

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. 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.
  2. Why does a fast-moving football hurt more to stop than a slow one? (Fast balls are hotter. / It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands. / It is heavier when it moves fast. / Slow balls have no energy.) → It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands.Prompt: What changes when the ball speeds up?

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

eurekami

Faster objects have more energy

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Why does a fast-moving football hurt more to stop than a slow one?

    • A. It is heavier when it moves fast.
    • B. Slow balls have no energy.
    • C. It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands.
    • D. Fast balls are hotter.

  2. Question 2

    A ball rolled down a ramp from three different heights and hit a wooden block. Which release height gave the ball the most energy when it hit?

    How far the block was pushed (cm)0510155low10medium15high
    • A. low
    • B. medium
    • C. high

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Speed has nothing to do with energy.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    Which has the most energy of motion?

    • A. the same cyclist standing still
    • B. the same cyclist riding slowly
    • C. a cyclist riding fast downhill
    • D. a parked bike

  5. Question 5

    A ball rolled down a ramp from three heights and hit a block. How much further was the block pushed from the high start than from the low start?

    How far the block was pushed (cm)0510154low10medium15high

    Answercm

  6. Question 6

    True or false? The faster an object moves, the more energy it has.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  7. Question 7

    Why do roads near schools have low speed limits?

    • A. Fast cars are quieter.
    • B. Slow cars use more fuel.
    • C. Speed does not change a car's energy.
    • D. Slower cars have less energy, so they stop more quickly and cause less harm if they crash.

  8. Question 8

    A bowling ball is rolled slowly, then quickly. When does it knock down more pins?

    • A. when it is rolled slowly
    • B. it never knocks pins down
    • C. it is always the same
    • D. when it is rolled quickly

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Faster objects have more energy

  1. 1. C. It has more energy of motion to transfer to your hands.

  2. 2. C. high

  3. 3. B. False

  4. 4. C. a cyclist riding fast downhill

  5. 5. 11 cm

  6. 6. A. True

  7. 7. D. Slower cars have less energy, so they stop more quickly and cause less harm if they crash.

  8. 8. D. when it is rolled quickly