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Lift a Story Card at the Children’s Museum

Compare two cord materials in a museum lift model, read test evidence, and design a device that changes electrical energy into motion.

Grade 4ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to4-PS3-4

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
14 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

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

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students identify how a device changes electrical energy into motion energy.
Students compare test results to choose materials for an energy-changing device.
Students plan and explain a device design using evidence from fair tests.

How to use

Read the museum investigation together, then have students trace the energy path before answering. Ask students to use the test results as evidence for their design choices.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

4-PS3-4

Design a device that changes energy from one form to another.

Preview

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Name Date

Lift a Story Card at the Children’s Museum

Design a device that changes electrical energy into motion.

Test the museum lift

Read the investigation. Use the observations and graph to answer the questions.

A Lift for the Story Tower

At the children’s museum, a new Story Tower will send a wooden story card from the lower shelf to a reading balcony. Nia’s team designs a small lift. A battery pack sends electrical energy through wires when a switch is closed. The motor turns a pulley. A cord wrapped around the pulley pulls a platform upward, changing the motor’s motion into the platform’s motion.

The team compares two cord materials. Cord A is cotton. Cord B is braided nylon. For each trial, the team uses the same motor, battery pack, pulley, platform, 200-gram wooden block, and 30-centimeter lift. The motor runs at the same setting. The team changes the cord material and measures the time for the platform to reach the balcony. They also record whether the cord slips on the pulley.

The museum’s requirements are that the lift carry the block 30 centimeters in 9 seconds or less and that the cord does not slip. Cord A takes 8, 9, 10, 9, and 11 seconds in five trials. It slips during the third and fifth trials. Cord B takes 7, 7, 8, 7, and 8 seconds. It does not slip during the five trials. The graph shows how many trials for each cord met both requirements.

The team wants to recommend a design for the story tower. It also wants more evidence before building the full-size model. The lift will be used near visitors, so the platform must move in a controlled way and stay attached to the cord.

Which energy path best describes the working story-card lift?

A. Motion energy from the platform changes into electrical energy in the battery.
B. Sound energy from the switch changes into heat energy in the cord.
C. Electrical energy moves the motor, which transfers motion energy to the pulley and platform.
D. Light energy from the balcony moves the motor and then the battery.