Worksheet

Energy Notes from the Bike Shop

Read a bike shop field journal to trace energy to natural resources and evaluate environmental effects of fuel and electricity choices.

Grade 4ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to4-ESS3-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
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1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
14 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students trace electricity and fuel use to natural resources.
Students use field-journal data to compare energy choices and environmental effects.
Students support an energy recommendation with evidence from a data table.

How to use

Read the field journal together, then have students use the daily records as evidence. Discuss how energy choices can have more than one environmental effect.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

4-ESS3-1

Describe how energy and fuels come from natural resources and how using them affects the environment.

Preview

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Name Date

Energy Notes from the Bike Shop

Use a field journal to trace energy to natural resources and consider environmental effects.

Read the field journal

Read the field journal from Rowan's community bike shop. Use the records to answer the questions.

Rowan's Field Journal

11. Rowan kept notes while helping at a community bike shop. The shop charged repair tools and loaner bike batteries with 12 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each day. A rooftop solar array supplied some electricity. The rest came from the town's utility. The utility's electricity was made by burning natural gas at a power plant.

22. The shop also burned propane in a heater on cool mornings. Natural gas and propane formed from ancient organisms and take extremely long times to form. Sunlight is a renewable natural resource because nature supplies it again and again. Solar panels change energy from sunlight into electricity. While the panels are operating, they do not burn fuel.

33. Burning natural gas or propane releases air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Getting these fuels from underground can disturb land and water. Solar panels avoid burning fuel while they operate, but making, transporting, and installing panels uses materials and energy. Rowan noted that the panels were placed on the shop's existing roof, so workers did not clear a new field.

44. Rowan's electricity records are below. The shop needed 12 kWh each day. The propane column records fuel used by the heater.

5Journal table: Day | Solar electricity (kWh) | Utility electricity (kWh) | Propane (gallons) Monday, sunny | 8 | 4 | 2 Tuesday, cloudy | 3 | 9 | 3 Wednesday, sunny | 7 | 5 | 2 Thursday, rainy | 2 | 10 | 4 Friday, sunny | 9 | 3 | 1

Which path traces the energy in the utility electricity used by the shop?

A. Sunlight → solar panels → utility wires
B. Natural gas → power plant → utility wires
C. Propane → rooftop panels → utility wires
D. Water in the shop → power plant → utility wires

How many kWh of solar electricity did the shop receive during the five days? kWh

Which day had the greatest amount of solar electricity?

A. Monday
B. Tuesday
C. Thursday
D. Friday

Select the TWO observations that support the idea that solar electricity can replace some utility electricity when the shop needs the same total amount.

Monday had 8 kWh from solar and 4 kWh from the utility.Thursday had 2 kWh from solar and 10 kWh from the utility.The shop used propane in its heater on cool mornings.The panels were placed on the existing roof.

Reason from the records

Use the journal evidence to compare energy resources and make predictions.

How many kWh came from the utility during the five days? kWh

On another rainy day, the panels produce 2 kWh and the shop still needs 12 kWh. What is the most likely amount the utility supplies?

A. 2 kWh, because rain makes the panels and utility match
B. 10 kWh, because the utility supplies the rest of the need
C. 12 kWh, because solar panels stop the shop from using utility power
D. 14 kWh, because the two sources are added to the need

Sort each natural resource by how nature replaces its supply.

sunlightnatural gaspropanesunlight used by Friday's panels

Renewable resource	Nonrenewable resource

Which statement best explains one environmental difference between the shop's rooftop solar electricity and its utility electricity?

A. Solar electricity burns more natural gas at the power plant.
B. Utility electricity uses sunlight, while solar panels use propane.
C. Solar panels avoid burning fuel while they operate, while the utility uses burned natural gas.
D. Utility electricity comes from a resource that forms faster than sunlight.

The shop wants more solar electricity. Which plan uses Rowan's evidence to reduce a possible effect on habitat?

A. Put panels on the existing roof instead of clearing a field.
B. Clear a field so the panels receive the same roof space.
C. Burn extra propane so the panels make electricity at night.
D. Move the panels indoors beside the bike racks.

10.

What does the journal support about the shop's sunny days?

A. Sunny days had more solar electricity and less utility electricity than the rainy day.
B. Sunny days used more propane because sunlight heats the heater.
C. Sunny days supplied all 12 kWh from the solar panels.
D. Sunny days made the utility use more natural gas than rainy days.

Evaluate an energy plan

Use data and information from the journal to judge plans and explain your thinking.

11.

On a day when the shop needs 10 kWh, the panels supply 7 kWh. How many kWh would the utility need to supply? kWh

12.

Which additional evidence would best help the shop compare the environmental effects of rooftop solar with utility electricity over a year?

A. The colors of the shop's bicycles
B. The number of repair tools on each shelf
C. The number of sunny days in one week
D. Energy and materials used to make and deliver the panels

13.

Select the TWO choices that would directly reduce the shop's use of fossil-fuel energy, while keeping the same repair work.

Add more solar panels to the existing roof to supply more of the shop's electricity.Replace old lights with efficient lights that provide the needed light.Run the propane heater with the doors open.Leave tools running after the repair work is finished.

14.

The shop wants to use less energy from burning fossil fuels and avoid clearing habitat. Make a recommendation using the journal. Include at least two numbers from the table and explain one environmental effect.