Forms of Energy: Everyday Examples to Help Students

Help students understand energy and its various forms with everyday examples.  Students can learn about electrical, motion, sound, thermal, light, and chemical energy with the situations and processes they experience in everyday life.   You can finish the lesson with a printable student sheet that reinforces what the students have learned.

In the  Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading® book It’s All Energy, students read about the many different forms of energy we use every day—to move, talk, cook, create music, light or heat. Below are some examples form the book that you can use with your class to help them understand various forms of energy.   Start with a brief description of energy.

What Is Energy?

Energy makes things happen.  Every time something moves, it is because of energy.  Every time something gets warmer, it is because of energy.  Every time something makes a noise, it is because of energy.  People use energy to talk, run, and think.  In fact, every time we do anything, we use energy!

There are different forms of energy:

• electrical
• motion
• sound
• thermal
• light
• chemical

Electrical Energy

A bolt of lightening is electrical energy.  This is the same kind energy used by