Potential and Kinetic Energy - Inferences Activity

Which Energy Is It? Inferences

Four illustrated clue cards, four quick decisions. A rock at the edge of a cliff, a rolling soccer ball, a pulled-back slingshot, and a skateboarder halfway down a ramp. For each, students circle what they can figure out - potential or kinetic, and which type of potential - then underline the words that tipped them off. It is exactly the identifying skill TEKS 6.8A builds toward, with a built-in "both at once" card.

What's Included

• 1 student page: 4 illustrated inference cards with three answer choices each
• 1 teacher key page with the answer and the exact clue words for every card, plus a short note on the underlining task
• Letter-size PDF, no prep

How It Helps You Teach

• Builds the core question - is it stored (potential) or moving (kinetic)? - and names the type of potential energy
• Confronts the misconception that an object is only ever potential or kinetic, never both
• Reasoning-based, not recall - students infer from a real situation

Pair It With

Part of a Potential and Kinetic Energy set: Context Clues, Inferences, Science in the News, the Potential or Kinetic sort, and a Reading in Science. Check out our library for the rest.

Perfect for 6th grade physical science, science reading and reasoning practice, morning work or review, and TEKS 6.8A support. Topics include: potential energy, kinetic energy, gravitational, elastic, energy of motion, and stored energy.

Standards: TEKS 6.8A (compare and contrast gravitational, elastic, and chemical potential energies with kinetic energy); NGSS DCI PS3.A. Part of the Daily Science series by Workybooks.