Grade 6 Science: Energy, Light, and Sound
Free Grade 6 Science unit on Energy, Light, and Sound: 10 lessons in order, starting with Forms of energy. Includes practice questions and answer keys.
10 lessons in this unit
Forms of energy
Learn that energy is the ability to make things happen, measured in joules, and name its main forms, kinetic, gravitational potential, elastic potential, thermal, chemical, electrical, light, sound and nuclear, with everyday examples.
Lesson 2Energy transfer
Learn that energy can be transferred from one place or object to another by forces, electric current, light, sound or heating, that useful and wasted energy are both transferred, and draw simple Sankey-style arrow diagrams.
Lesson 3Energy transformation
Learn that energy changes from one form to another in energy transformations, trace chains such as chemical to kinetic to thermal, and understand that total energy stays the same while it spreads out to the surroundings.
Lesson 4Heat transfer
Learn that heat (thermal energy) moves from hot to cold by conduction in solids, convection in liquids and gases and radiation through space, investigate insulators and conductors of heat using warm water, and apply it to cooking, houses and the Sun.
Lesson 5Light
Learn that light travels in straight lines at about 300,000 km per second, sources are luminous, other objects are seen by reflected light, materials are transparent, translucent or opaque, shadows form when light is blocked, and the Sun must never be looked at directly.
Lesson 6Reflection
Learn the law of reflection, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection, measured from the normal, how plane mirrors form images, and the difference between smooth (regular) and rough (diffuse) reflection.
Lesson 7Refraction introduction
Learn that light bends when it passes between materials of different densities, such as air and water, this bending is called refraction, explain a straw that looks bent, and see how lenses use refraction. Use torches only.
Lesson 8Sound vibrations
Learn that sound is made by vibrations, that pitch depends on frequency (hertz) and loudness on amplitude, investigate how string length or tube length changes pitch, and protect hearing.
Lesson 9Sound propagation
Learn that sound travels as longitudinal waves through solids, liquids and gases but not through a vacuum, that it travels at about 343 metres per second in air and faster in solids, how echoes work, and calculate distance from an echo or thunder.
Lesson 10Energy efficiency
Learn that efficiency compares useful energy output with total energy input, calculate efficiency as a percentage, compare devices such as LED and filament bulbs, and suggest ways to save energy at home and school.