Energy Teaching Resources
Explore energy in your science classroom with engaging activities, printable worksheets and more teacher resources aligned with the Australian science curriculum.
This collection of teacher-created resources covers everything you need to introduce primary students to sound, light, heat, electricity and so much more! Save time on your lesson plans with easily editable resources and differentiated options that have been carefully reviewed by the science teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure they're ready for your classroom and your students!
Is this your first year engaging kids on the topic of energy? Or maybe you are just looking for fresh ideas? Read on for a help from our teacher team!
What Is Energy? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Ever wish you had a script handy to introduce any topic to your class for the first time? We hear you! The Teach Starter site is packed with kid-friendly definitions made just for teachers! Here's one that we use to explain what energy means to our students:
Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. It's found all around us — even when we can't see it — making things happen!
For example, energy is what makes a lightbulb glow or creates the sound we hear when we play a musical instrument.
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Sources of Heat
A 60 minute lesson in which students will identify kinetic, electrical and chemical sources of heat energy.
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Electricity Explained
An assessment task in which students will demonstrate an understanding of energy transfer and transformation when generating electricity.
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Is It Sustainable? Evaluating Sources of Electricity
A 60 minute lesson in which students will consider whether energy sources are sustainable.
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Solar Electricity
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate the use of solar panels and determine if they are a viable source of electricity.
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Transforming Energy Into Electricity
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate how moving air and water can turn turbines to generate electricity.
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Shine Bright, Electric Light!
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate how changes to electrical circuits affect their components.
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Feeling the Flow - Electrical Conductors and Insulators
A 60 minute lesson in which students will classify objects as conductors or insulators of electricity.
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Wired Up! - Building Electrical Circuits
A 60 minute lesson in which students will read and draw circuit diagrams.
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What is Electricity?
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Light and Shadow - Design an Experiment
An assessment task in which students will demonstrate an understanding of light and fair testing.
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True Colours
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate how the colour of an object depends on the properties of the object and the colour of the light source.
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In Living Colour
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate how the colour of an object depends on the properties of the object.
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Refracting Light
A 60 minute lesson in which students will observe the refraction of light at the surfaces of different transparent materials.
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Reflecting Light
A 60 minute lesson in which students will use mirrors to investigate some of the properties of reflected light.
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In the Shadows
A 60 minute lesson in which students will compare shadows from point and extended light sources.
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See Light Through Me
A 60 minute lesson in which students will classify objects based on how much light is transmitted through them.
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Lights Line Up!
A 60 minute lesson in which students will draw simple ray diagrams to show the paths of light from a source to the eyes.
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Handy Heating
A 60-minute lesson designed to explain how certain materials change when they are heated.
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What is Light?
A 60 minute lesson in which students will research the concept of light and generate a list of statements that can be tested.
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The Heat is On
An assessment task in which students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of heat energy and how it moves.
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Thermal Insulators - Keeping Out the Heat
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate which materials are the best thermal insulators.
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Thermal Conductors - Feel the Heat
A 60 minute lesson in which students will investigate which materials are the best thermal conductors.
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Moving Heat
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the concept of heat transference.
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What is Heat?
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the concept of heat as a form of energy.
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Keeping Warm
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore prior knowledge and understanding of heat.