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This YouTube video is a starter video to explain what energy. This is a great video to introduce the unit to the students. It gives a definition of what energy is and the types of energy we will be learning about.

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Bill Nye videos are wonderful. Not only are the students going to learn about the different forms of energy, but he gives great examples as he teaches. This allows students with different learning abilities to understand each energy.

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This video explains the five energy forms. Since the research project will be learning about the different energy forms and then teaching others about the energy form the student chooses, this is a great video to jump-start that knowledge.

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I found this anchor chart and loved it. This is an anchor chart we can complete as a group. As we go through and learn about each energy, we can complete the anchor chart that will be hanging in the classroom.

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This website explains what energy transfer is and how it happens. It also has a video that is embedded to give more information to the students. The example pictures are great too.

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COLLISION DEFINITION

A collision happens when one object runs into another. When objects collide, the energy transfers from one object to the other. Energy is the ability to do work (or in more simple terms: energy makes things happen). The amount of energy transferred during a collision depends on the weight and speed of the moving object.

To better understand how energy transfer and collisions work…

LET’S BREAK IT DOWN!

Collisions happen all around us.

Every day, we see and experience hundreds of collisions. A collision could be as gentle as a puppy licking your face, or as dramatic as a wrecking ball smashing into a building.

Collisions are part of our everyday lives. People drop things which collide with the ground. Drumsticks collide with drums to make sounds.

Sports involve numerous collisions. Think about baseball. The batter tries to collide the bat with the ball. At the instant of impact, the energy transfers from the swinging bat to the ball, which makes it fly.

Energy transfers when two objects collide.

Do you enjoy going bowling? When you bowl, you are transferring the energy from the moving ball to the bowling pins.

Bumper cars are another great example. In this case, all the cars are usually in motion. When one bumper car hits another car, the energy is transferred and the passengers in the cars feel a change in their motion. The cars may stop or change direction due to the impact of the collision.

The faster an object is moving, the more energy it can transfer.

The amount of energy transferred between moving objects depends on the object’s speed. Objects that are moving faster have a bigger impact because they transfer more energy.

If the video, Dr. Jeff’s mom was able to knock Izzy farther when she ran faster. That’s because she had more energy to transfer. That energy was transferred to Izzy when they collided.

This has an important real-world application for car safety. When cars are traveling fast and they have an accident, the crash is typically much worse than if the car was traveling slowly. Speed limit signs are posted to keep drivers safe for this reason.

The heavier an object, the more energy it can transfer.

Heavier objects carry more energy. This explains why car accidents involving trucks are so damaging to cars. During a collision, the energy carried by the heavy truck is transferred to the lighter car.

Have you ever noticed that the biggest football players have the most stopping power? If a 300-pound lineman tackles a 100-pound quarterback, the quarterback doesn’t have a chance.

Animals sometimes fight over territory. The larger animal is usually more successful in these fights, because it has more weight and can transfer more energy during a collision.

EXAMPLES OF COLLISIONS

Engineers build cars with special crumple zones. The crumple zone absorbs the impact. This reduces the amount of energy transferred to passengers during a crash.

Newton’s cradle uses a series of swinging balls that collide. This is a common toy seen on people’s desks. As the balls continue to collide, energy is transferred from one ball to the next. Over time the balls stop because some of the energy in each collision becomes sound and heat.

Rube Goldberg machines show energy transfers. This ice dispensing machine from our video transfers energy through a series of collisions. It may not be very useful, but it sure is fun!

COLLISIONS VOCABULARY

Energy

It makes things happen! (Or more formally: the ability to do work)

Rube Goldberg Machine

A complex contraption that performs a simple task, such as pouring a glass of lemonade.

Energy Transfer

When one objects runs into another, energy is transferred.

Collision

When one object runs into another.

Contact

When two objects touch each other.

Stationary Object

An object that is not moving.

ENERGY TRANSFER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

True or false: Only humans use energy.

False. People use energy to make things happen, such as lifting weight, but it's not just people that use energy. Water uses energy to turn a water wheel, wind use energy to spin wind turbines and animals use energy when running or butting heads.

Explain how energy is transferred to make the Rube Goldberg Machine work.

The weight drops the top ramp, which collides with the metal ball. The metal ball rolls down a series of ramps and collides with a rod that releases the spinning circle. The spinning circle travels down as it spins, which eventually pulls the large hanging metal ball loose. The ball drops slowly as it unwinds, turning the windmill. That eventually pulls a pin holding the ice. The ice slides down the tube and drops into the pitcher. During each collision energy is transferred between objects.

We Cover All Major Science Standards in Grades 3-5

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Collisions Transfer Energy | Science For Kids | Grades 3-5

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Do you know energy transfer and collisions happen between two moving objects? Watch Generation Genius' force and motion for kids video!

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This anchor chart is a great visual resource for the students to have in the classroom to reference. Having an acronym is a great way to help the students remember the types of energy. The anchor chart also gives a quick explanation of each energy and important vocabulary they will come across during their research.

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When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures.

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This video explains the difference between potential and kinetic energy. It explains the definitions in a kid-friendly way and uses real-life examples the students can relate to.

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"Our World: Potential and Kinetic Energy" by Adventure Academy

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This excerpt from the book Materials and Processes by Peter Riley explains the properties of different objects. This is great information to help the students understand why certain materials are great conductors of energy and why others are not.

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This book explains what energy is and how it works. It also has great experiments that the students can conduct to have a better understanding of the different types of energy.

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Potential Energy vs. Kinetic Energy - Physics Made Simple - 4th Grade by Baby Professor

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This book is used kid-friendly language to describe the difference between potential and kinetic energy. The graphics are nice too.

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This book by Neil Ardley has great experiments for light/solar energy. It explains what light energy is and why it is an energy source.

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Energy Makes Things Happen by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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Energy Makes Things Happen explains the types of energies with examples. The book is set up as a narrative book but gives nonfiction information.

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Energy Heat, Light, and Fuel by Darlene Stille

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This book explains the process of producing energy and transferring energy. It also has fun facts on each page to help the students learn more information.

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This book explains how we use electricity and how it is created. It also has questions throughout the book with a key in the back to check for learning.

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Heat explains all the aspects of heat and how it is used as energy. It has great photos and an index in the back for help with vocabulary.

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Energy for Today: Wind Power by Tea Benduhn

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Wind Power is a short chapter book that explains wind energy, sources of the energy, how it works, and where the technology is going for the future.

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Energy for Today: Water Power by Tea Benduhn

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Just like Wind Power, this book is a short chapter book that explains water energy, it's sources, how it works, and where the technology is evolving to.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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This excerpt explains what energy is and why is it important. It gives great caption descriptions to help the students understand the concept.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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This excerpt explains why fire is useful. It explains how it can be used for many different things and why it is very important. This relates to how using fire helps with food consumption and why it is important for the human race to acquiring energy.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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These pages discuss what wind and water energy are and what is used to create each one. I also love how it explains how these types of energy were useful in the past.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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These pages explain how energy is transferred by movement. This will further the student's understanding of kinetic and potential energy.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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It is important to understand what potential energy is and why/how it relates to all the energy types. These pages explain this along with great images with interesting captions.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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These pages explain heat energy. It discusses how heat energy is made from different forms such as fire, chemicals, and weather. It also explains how to measure heat.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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This excerpt explains how energy is made from the sun. It explains how solar energy is used for animals and humans. It also gives a great picture of the layers of the sun.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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During the unit, we will be discussing renewable and non-renewable resources. This excerpt explains what fossil fuels are and why it is important to conserve them.

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Excerpt from Eyewitness Energy by Jack Challoner

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Since I want to make sure the students know why we are learning about energy and how it affects them, this excerpt is about energy from food. It explains how we get our energy from food and what value it has on our lives.

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Energy for Today: Solar Power by Tea Benduhn

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Solar Power is a short chapter book that explains what solar power is, how is it produced and why it is important in the future. It also give the different sources used to capture solar energy.

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This video shows what energy is and how each can be transformed into another energy. What I liked about this video is there is no narration. It is just pictures and arrows. It will be a great resource to have during a group discussion. I can pause it and discuss the point in more detail.

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This video explains what mechanical energy is and gives examples. It is a great video with drawings and a narrative. It also takes it a step further and explains how to measure mechanical energy. This would be extra information for the students.

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This video explains light energy. It explains what light is, the transmission of light, absorption, the reflection of light, and refraction. It also talks about the William Herschel Telescope in Spain. This gives the students a fun fact about star's colors and light and how long it takes the sun's rays to touch your face outside.

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This short video explains the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources. It also gives examples.

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What is Energy? Energy Types for Kids - Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Sources

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This website is a great resource for explaining the different types of energies. It discusses the pros and cons of each energy type which is great for the students to learn about.

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Pro/Con (nonfiction), 1,803 words, Level Z (Grade 5), Lexile 970L

Energy Sources: The Pros and Cons informs readers about the major sources of energy consumed in the world today: fossil fuels, hydroelectric energy, solar and wind energy, and nuclear power. Discussions of the pros and cons of each source are included, allowing readers to form their own opinion about the use of each type of energy. Photographs, charts, and diagrams support the text.

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Pro/Con (nonfiction), 1,803 words, Level Z (Grade 5), Lexile 970L Energy Sources: The Pros and Cons informs readers about the major sources of energy consumed in the world today: fossil fuels, hydroelectric energy, solar and wind energy, and nuclear power.

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This book is another great started information book for students. This book explains the types of energy and what are sources of each energy.

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This is a great website for the students to use not only for energy research but lots of other inquiries they have. This section discusses fossil fuels and renewable resources.

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Can you imagine living without electricity? How much would you enjoy a house without a stove? Do you think you could go back to the days before gasoline-powered automobiles? We take all of these modern conveniences for granted...and they all have something in common.

Most electricity is produced from burning . Many stoves run on natural gas. And those automobiles? They run on gasoline made from (what we call ). All of these things - , natural gas, and - are fuels.

So what is a ? It sounds like it's something made out of dinosaur bones, right? Well, that's not exactly true, but fuels date back a long, long time...even before the dinosaurs!

Way back when, fuels, including , , and natural gas, formed during an age known as the Carboniferous Period, which was during the Paleozoic Era. How long ago was that? Try between 286 and 360 million years ago!

At that time, before the dinosaurs came along, Earth was very different than it is today. Humid swamps covered Earth's surface, full of all sorts of strange animals and huge leafy plants and trees. The oceans also contained large amounts of algae, as well as prehistoric fish.

As all these plants and animals died over the years, they decomposed and collected on the bottoms of the swamps and oceans. Layer after layer of dead plant material eventually formed a spongy material called .

Over thousands and thousands of years, the layers of were covered by various minerals, clays, muds, and sands. These heavy materials slowly formed layers of sedimentary rock. As time passed, additional layers of rock formed.

All that rock pressed down on the layers of with unbelievable weight. Over millions and millions of years, the layers of rock squeezed all of the water out of the layers of , leaving behind only the carbon-rich material that would eventually turn into , , or natural gas.

Because it took millions of years to create the fuels we use today, that means that we can't simply make more when they run out. The fuels that are in existence today aren't . When they're gone, they're gone! How long will they last? No one can say for sure. However, many scientists believe that, within the next century, the cost of locating and harvesting the remaining fuels will become too expensive to justify their continued use.

That's why so many scientists dedicate their time today to finding alternative , sources of . Their goal is to develop technologies that will allow us to create sources of that won't run out. Such alternative sources could include technologies such as , , , and hydroelectric .

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Can you imagine living without electricity? How much would you enjoy a house without a stove? Do you think you could go back to the days before gasoline-powered automobiles? We take all of these modern conveniences for granted...and they all have something in common. Most electricity is produced from burning .

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This website gives a short article about electricity and energy. It also has a vocabulary section and review questions to check the student's learning.

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Improve your students' reading comprehension with ReadWorks. Access thousands of high-quality, free K-12 articles, and create online assignments with them for your students.

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This is another great article from this website. This article also has different reading levels that I can choose from depending on my student's reading level. It has the vocabulary activity and questions to check for learning.

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Improve your students' reading comprehension with ReadWorks. Access thousands of high-quality, free K-12 articles, and create online assignments with them for your students.

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The students love BrainPop videos. This video explains sound energy. The great thing with BrainPop is that there are activities and games that go along with the video also.

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The students love BrainPop videos. This video explains heat energy. The great thing with BrainPop is that there are activities and games that go along with the video also.

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The students love BrainPop videos. This video explains light energy. The great thing with BrainPop is that there are activities and games that go along with the video also.

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The students love BrainPop videos. This video explains the different energy sources. The great thing with BrainPop is that there are activities and games that go along with the video also.

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BrainPOP Jr. - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology