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Year 5 Science — Energy — how things work

Say what energy does, name the sources a home and a vehicle run on, tell clean energy from fuels that pollute, and handle electricity safely.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

A house that draws on three natural sources of energy at once.

1234
  1. 1. Solar panels
  2. 2. The windmill
  3. 3. The water wheel
  4. 4. The house

Three different sources, one roofline. The panels take the Sun, the blades take the wind, the wheel takes the stream — and none of the three burns anything to do it.

  1. 1.Match each machine to the natural source of energy it draws on.

    • Solar panels
    • Windmills
    • Gharaats, the watermills of the hills
    • Wind
    • Flowing water
    • Sunlight

  2. 2.Electricity made from the wind, from water or from the Sun leaves behind no smoke and no waste. What two-word name does the chapter give it?

  3. 3.In parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Ladakh, families keep their cattle on the ground floor and live on the floor above. Why?

    • a) The animals are safer from the wind at ground level
    • b) It leaves the upper floor free for storing firewood
    • c) It is easier to carry water to the animals that way
    • d) The heat from the animals keeps the rooms above warm in winter

  4. 4.A dog runs, a bird flies, and you walk to school. Where does the energy for each of the three come from?

    • a) Sunlight falling on them
    • b) The warmth of the ground
    • c) Food
    • d) The air they breathe

  5. 5.Electricity can be made from each of these. Sort them by what making it costs the air around us.

    Groups: Makes electricity without polluting · Makes smoke and pollution when burnt

    • The wind
    • Coal
    • Flowing water
    • Wood
    • The Sun

  6. 6.Rubber bands are stretched round a cardboard box and plucked. What kind of energy does the chapter say this shows?

    • a) Heat energy
    • b) Stored energy
    • c) Light energy
    • d) Sound energy

  7. 7.Sort each of these into what is safe to do around electricity and what is not.

    Groups: Safe · Not safe

    • Play near an electric box or a transformer
    • Poke a pencil into a socket
    • Touch the wires of a device while it is plugged in
    • Tell an adult that a switch looks strange
    • Stay away from a fallen electric pole

  8. 8.What does energy efficiency mean?

    • a) Using less energy to do the same work
    • b) Storing energy so it can be used later
    • c) Using energy from the Sun rather than from coal
    • d) Making energy at home rather than buying it

Answer key — Year 5 Science — Energy — how things work

  1. 1. Solar panels → Sunlight; Windmills → Wind; Gharaats, the watermills of the hills → Flowing water
  2. 2. clean energy
  3. 3. d) The heat from the animals keeps the rooms above warm in winter
  4. 4. c) Food
  5. 5. The Sun → Makes electricity without polluting; The wind → Makes electricity without polluting; Flowing water → Makes electricity without polluting; Coal → Makes smoke and pollution when burnt; Wood → Makes smoke and pollution when burnt
  6. 6. d) Sound energy
  7. 7. Stay away from a fallen electric pole → Safe; Tell an adult that a switch looks strange → Safe; Touch the wires of a device while it is plugged in → Not safe; Poke a pencil into a socket → Not safe; Play near an electric box or a transformer → Not safe
  8. 8. a) Using less energy to do the same work