Grade 4 Science · Energy in motion
Send toy cars down ramps, watch what happens when they crash, and discover how the speed of an object is tied to its energy.
Section 1 · Speed and energy
By the end of this section I can explain that a faster object has more energy — so I can predict which toy car will push a block further.
Tick each one when you can do it without help.
Anything that is moving has energy of motion. A rolling toy car, a thrown ball, a running child — all have energy because they are moving.
The faster an object moves, the more energy it has. A car rolling at 8 speed units has more energy than the same car rolling at 3 speed units.
Interactive · raise the ramp, watch the speed and crash energy
Check yourself
Car A rolls at 3 speed units and Car B rolls at 8 speed units. Which car has more energy?
A car moves at 10 speed units. The same car moves at 4 speed units. The faster car has ______ energy than the slower one.
Where you start a car on a ramp matters. A car released from higher up speeds up for longer, so it reaches the bottom moving faster — and with more energy.
Start a car at height 1 and it rolls slowly. Start the same car at height 7 and it rolls much faster. Greater height → greater speed → greater energy.
Check yourself
A car starts from height 2 on a ramp. The same car starts from height 7. From which height does it roll faster?
You want a toy car to crash into a block with the most energy possible. Do you start it low or high on the ramp?
Section 2 · Collisions and energy transfer
By the end of this section I can describe how energy is transferred when objects collide — so I can predict how far a crashed-into block will move.
Tick each one when you can do it without help.
When a moving car crashes into a block, the car's energy of motion doesn't just disappear — it gets transferred to the block, making the block move.
A faster car carries more energy, so in a crash it transfers more energy to the block — and the block moves further.
Interactive · change the car's speed, see how far the block moves
Check yourself
A car hits a block at speed 3 and the block moves 6 cm. The same car hits at speed 7. Will the block move more or less than 6 cm?
A fast car scatters a stack of cups far across the floor. A slow car barely moves them. The fast car had ______ energy than the slow car.
Energy doesn't only move from object to object — it can change form. In a crash, some motion energy becomes sound (the bang) and heat (warm parts).
When a toy car hits a wall and stops, its motion energy is not gone — some became the sound of the crash and some became heat in the bumper.
Check yourself
In a crash you hear a loud bang. The car's motion energy changed into ______ energy.
After a crash a car's bumper feels warm to touch. Motion energy changed into ______ energy.
Same Grade 4 Science outcomes, rebuilt around whatever your child is into this week - dinosaurs, Minecraft, horses, you name it.
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