The Sun’s Rays: Light and its Effects

Will Energy Run Out?

The Sun’s Rays: Light and its Effects

Duration: 45 minutes

Notes / Activity

Activity:

Ask students to work in a group to imagine what today would be like if there were no electricity (permanently, not just a blackout situation). Get the groups to develop a timeline describing what this typical day might be like.

  • 4-PS3-2: Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy.] 
  • 4-PS3-3: Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the change in the energy due to the change in speed, not on the forces, as objects interact.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include quantitative measurements of energy.]

By the end of this lesson, the student should able to:

  • Identify different forms of energy. 
  • Define and list examples of renewable and on-renewable energy. 

Lesson Plan

Lesson Introduction

Duration: 15 min
  • Ask students the question:

 

Where do we get our energy from? (Food)

Where do you think plants get their energy from? (Sun)

 

  • Explain to students that the Sun is the primary source of energy on Earth. When plants make food, the energy from the sun is passed on to the plants. When animals eat the plants, the energy is passed on to the animals. Thus, the energy that is passed on from one livin thing to another can be traced back to the sun.
  • Elicit from students:

 

Will the energy from the sun run out? Why?

Give students some time to discuss and share their answers. 

 

  • Launch the learning story to have students explore different forms of energy.

Explore

Duration: 10 min
  • Have students look around their classroom to collect various objects.
  • Bring students back to discuss where the various objects get their energy from. 
  • Elicit from students

 

Where does it get its energy from? How do you know?

Explain, Elaborate

Duration: 20 min
  • Have students discuss if the energy source of the various objects will run out eventually.
  • Launch the learning story to have students explore renewable and non-renewable resources.
  • Get students to explain the terms renewable and non-renewable resources.
  • Have them list examples of both renewable and non-renewable resources.
  • Ask students to work in a group to imagine what today would be like if there were no electricity (permanently, not just a blackout situation). 
  • Get the groups to develop a timeline describing what this typical day might be like. For example, at 7am, they will wake up and brush their teeth. 
  • Ask them to really consider how they would feel and what they would do without electricity. 
  • Get each group to present their timeline to the class.

Resources

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