Little Lab Coats
Energy & Motion Reference Card
Grade 4 · PS3
Energy can move from one object to another and cause motion changes that students can observe, compare, and explain with evidence.
Key vocabulary
energymotioncollisionfrictionspeedevidence
What to notice
- A higher starting position can give the same object more energy and more speed.
- Collisions can transfer energy and start another object moving.
- Faster-moving objects often cause bigger motion changes.
- Rough surfaces create more friction and slow motion sooner.
- Fair tests change one variable at a time and keep other parts the same.
Materials snapshot
- Toy cars, marbles, or rolled balls
- Books or boxes for ramp tests
- Ruler or tape measure
- Rough and smooth surfaces
- Worksheet and pencil
Talk-about prompts
- What evidence showed that the higher start made the object faster?
- What evidence shows that energy moved during a collision?
- How did speed change the result of the test?
- What did friction do on the rough surface?
- Which variable did you change, and which did you control?
Why it matters
This unit helps students connect what they can see — higher starts, speeding up, slowing down, colliding, and stopping — to the science idea that energy moves and causes motion changes. Careful evidence and fair comparisons make those explanations stronger.
Try this next: Build a tiny home motion lab with one car, one ramp, and two different surfaces. Ask your child to change one thing at a time and defend the results with evidence.