Students learn that a force is a push or pull and that friction is the force that slows down or stops an object. Students learn that energy is the ability to do work. They learn that energy can be stored in objects and that stored energy can be changed into other forms of energy. Students learn that heat energy moves from a warmer object to a cooler one, traveling more easily through some kinds of materials than others. Students learn how heat is produced and used, and that temperature is a measure of how hot something is.
Students use a flashlight to experience electrical, heat, and light energy.
Students will complete Lab Manual pages 35-36 as they do the activity. Students should describe how the electrical energy from the batteries changed to light energy in the flashlight bulb and then to heat energy that could be felt. By the end of fourth grade, students will develop an understanding of the position and motion of objects. Students make a model thermometer and test its operation in warm and cold water. They observe that when this thermometer is placed into warm water, the water inside it expands and the water level rises in the straw.