How Energy Travels
Aligned to 4-PS3-2 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Energy can move from one place to another. Sound, light, heat, and electric currents all carry energy from where it starts to somewhere else.
Worked examples
Example 1
When you turn on a lamp, electric energy travels through the wire and comes out as light you can see and heat you can feel on your hand.
Example 2
Energy from the sun travels 93 million miles through empty space and arrives as light and warmth on your skin.
Example 3
Sound energy travels through air, water and walls, which is why you can hear a neighbor's music through a closed door.
Practice questions
- Hold your hand near a warm lamp bulb. What kind of energy do you feel coming from it?
- Draw an arrow showing energy moving from a campfire to a marshmallow. What form of energy is it?
- Name four ways energy can travel from place to place and give one everyday example of each.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Cómo viaja la energía
La energía puede moverse de un lugar a otro. El sonido, la luz, el calor y las corrientes eléctricas transportan energía desde donde comienza hasta otro lugar.
Ejemplo 1: Cuando enciendes una lámpara, la energía eléctrica viaja por el cable y sale como luz que puedes ver y calor que puedes sentir en tu mano.
Ejemplo 2: La energía del sol viaja 93 millones de millas por el espacio vacío y llega como luz y calor a tu piel.
Ejemplo 3: La energía del sonido viaja por el aire, el agua y las paredes, por eso oyes la música del vecino a través de una puerta cerrada.
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