Worksheet

Sunlight Turns a Tide Pool Display

Design a sun-powered tide pool display using energy changes, fair tests, and evidence about disk size and sunlight.

Grade 4ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to4-PS3-4

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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 identify how a solar panel and motor change light energy into electrical energy and motion.
Students compare test results with design requirements to choose a working device.
Students propose and test an improvement to an energy-changing device.

How to use

Read the passage together, then have students evaluate the designs independently. Discuss how their final plans would change energy and meet the display requirements.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

4-PS3-4

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

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Sunlight Turns a Tide Pool Display

Use test results to choose and improve an energy-changing device.

A Device for the Discovery Tent

Read the passage. Use the device description to answer the questions.

A Turning View of Tide Pools

At a beach discovery tent, visitors study drawings of tide pool animals without collecting living animals. The class wants to build a display that slowly turns a cardboard disk covered with drawings. Visitors can watch the drawings move past a viewing window. The device must run without batteries or a wall outlet.

The class has a small solar panel, covered wires, and a slow-turning gear motor from a classroom kit. A solar panel supplies electrical energy when light reaches it. A motor uses electrical energy to turn a small rod called a shaft. An adult helps connect the kit. Students attach the cardboard disk to the shaft. They keep the dry device away from seawater and place a clear guard around its moving parts.

The display has two requirements. The disk must make at least 6 but no more than 10 complete turns in one minute, so visitors have time to see the drawings. The disk must also be no more than 12 centimeters wide to fit behind the viewing window. The clear guard used during testing is large enough to hold every trial disk safely.

The class makes three disks from the same kind of cardboard. Each disk has the same drawings, but the disks have different widths. For each test, students use the same panel, motor, wires, stand, and test location. They test in steady, bright sunlight and count complete turns for one minute. Changing only the disk size helps them compare the designs. After choosing a disk, they plan to investigate what happens when less light reaches the panel.

Which energy path explains how this device makes the disk turn?

A. Motion energy → electrical energy → light energy
B. Light energy → motion energy → electrical energy
C. Light energy → electrical energy → motion energy
D. Electrical energy → light energy → motion energy

Select the two observations that show motion energy in the working device.

The motor shaft spins.Sunlight reaches the panel.The cardboard disk turns.The covered wires stay connected.

Which assembly plan uses the kit to turn the disk without batteries?

A. Connect the panel to the motor with wires; attach the disk to the shaft.
B. Connect the panel to the cardboard with wires; leave out the motor.
C. Attach the disk to the motor shaft; leave the panel disconnected.
D. Place the panel beside the disk; leave both wires disconnected.

Sort the measurements and test conditions by their jobs in the disk-size investigation.

The disk's width in centimetersThe motor used for each testThe number of complete turns in one minuteThe length of each test

Measure to judge the design	Keep the same for a fair comparison

The motor shaft spins, but the disk has come loose from the shaft. What repair would restore the intended energy transfer?

A. Move the loose disk closer to the solar panel.
B. Add more drawings to the loose cardboard disk.
C. Cover the panel while leaving the disk loose.
D. Secure the disk to the shaft with the power off.

Compare the Disk Designs

Use the graph and both display requirements. Each bar shows one one-minute test in bright sunlight.

Requirements: 6–10 complete turns in one minute, including 6 and 10; disk width no more than 12 centimeters.

How many more complete turns did Disk C make than Disk B in one minute? turns

Which conclusion correctly uses both requirements?

A. Choose A: its larger disk meets the width and turning limits.
B. Choose B: its width and turning rate are within both limits.
C. Choose C: the fastest disk always meets both display limits.
D. Choose B or C: any disk under 12 centimeters meets both limits.

Select the two statements that correctly explain why a design fails at least one requirement.

Disk A is too wide and makes too few turns.Disk B is too narrow and makes too many turns.Disk C fits the width limit but makes too many turns.Disk A meets the turning limit but is too wide.

A student suggests testing A in bright sunlight, B in light shade, and C in deep shade. Why would this make the disk-size comparison less useful?

A. The disks would need to have different drawings.
B. One-minute tests could no longer measure turns.
C. The width of each cardboard disk would change.
D. Both disk size and the amount of light would change.

10.

Recommend a disk for the display. Use its width and its test result as evidence. Then explain the energy changes that make it turn.

Test an Improvement

Use the new test results to plan a more dependable display.

The class tests Disk B again. This time, students change only how much of the panel an opaque card covers. They keep the disk, motor, wires, panel position, and one-minute test time the same. Sunlight stays steady during the tests.

New test results
Panel uncovered: 8 complete turns in one minute.
Half of panel covered: 4 complete turns in one minute.
Panel fully covered: 0 complete turns in one minute.

11.

Which explanation best fits the covering-test results?

A. Covering the panel makes the cardboard disk wider.
B. Blocking more light reduces the energy supplied to the motor.
C. The motor receives more energy as the panel gets darker.
D. The panel keeps supplying the same energy when fully covered.

12.

The class wants stronger evidence before using the display. Select the two helpful testing steps.

Repeat each covering test several times in steady sunlight.Use a different motor and disk for every covering test.Record the turn count from every test, including zeros.Keep only results that meet the display requirements.

13.

The display window is shaded by the tent, but sunlight reaches a nearby dry shelf. Which redesign is best supported by the tests and still uses no batteries?

A. Secure the panel on the sunny shelf and connect it to the motor inside.
B. Keep the panel in the shade and make the display window larger.
C. Cover the panel completely and keep Disk B attached to the motor.
D. Leave the panel in the shade and add more drawings to Disk B.

14.

Plan a test of moving the panel from the shaded tent to the sunny shelf. Describe the device you would use, what you would change, and two things you would keep the same. Tell what you would measure and how you would decide whether the improved display meets both requirements.