Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
Energy makes things happen
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/energy/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/energy/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Energy makes things happen: move, light up, warm up, make sound.
- Some energy is stored (food, batteries, rubber bands, things up high).
- Energy changes from one kind to another.
- Compare ramps of different heights in a simple fair test.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Stretch a rubber band and let it go (carefully, aiming at nobody). Where did the energy come from? |
| 10 min | Read the text; find things in the classroom that use energy. |
| 15 min | Ball on a ramp in small groups. |
| 10 min | Play Stored or working? |
| 5 min | Quiz together. |
Materials for the experiment
- A small ball or a toy car
- A board or a stiff piece of card for a ramp
- Books to make the ramp low, middle and high
- Masking tape
- Hand spans or a ruler to measure
Safety: Keep the ramp low and steady. Let the ball roll, never throw it. Pick the ball up so nobody trips on it.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| Only living things or machines with plugs have energy. | Food, batteries, a rubber band and a ball up high all store energy. |
| Energy is a thing you can hold, like a fuel. | Energy is what makes things happen; fuels and food store it. |
| Energy gets used up and disappears. | It changes into other kinds, often heat. |
Worksheet answers
- Any reasonable example (a lamp gives light, a car moves, a radio makes sound, an oven heats).
- Yes.
- The ball from the high ramp, because it started higher and so had more stored energy.
Quiz answers
- What gives us energy to run and play? Food. Food has stored energy.[1]
- What does a stretched rubber band have? Stored energy. A stretched rubber band stores energy.[2]
- What does sunshine give us? Light and warmth. Sunshine is energy: light and warmth.[2]
- Which ball has more stored energy? A ball high up. The higher something is, the more energy it stores.[2]
- What does a lamp turn electricity into? Light and some heat. Electricity can be turned into light and heat.[1]
Going further
Use the middle ramp and try a light ball and a heavier ball of the same size. Does the heavier one roll further? (Heavier things up high store more energy, but friction and the size of the ball also matter.)
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] What is energy? (U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Energy Explained): reliability High
- [2] Forms of energy (U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Energy Explained): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/energy/sources/
Privacy: the lesson pages have no ads, no tracking and no cookies. Quiz answers and game scores stay in the pupil's browser. A short video for each age is coming.