Gravitational Potential Energy

Gravitational Potential Energy Worksheet (Grade 6 Science, TEKS 6.8A)

Help grade 6 students see how height gives an object energy. This one-page reading and activity sheet explains gravitational potential energy with a rock at the edge of a cliff, then shows that as an object falls, its gravitational potential energy decreases and its kinetic energy increases.

What's Inside

• A Big Question box: "How does height give an object energy?"
• A short reading with examples: a roller coaster, a book on a shelf, a rock on a cliff, and water behind a dam
• Activity 1: Students circle which object has more gravitational potential energy in three pairs
• Activity 2: Students follow an apple at three points as it falls and decide where it has the most potential and kinetic energy
• A visual answer key with answers marked in red

How Teachers Use It

Use it after an introduction to energy or as practice for TEKS 6.8A. The sheet takes about 10 minutes, needs no prior knowledge, and prints clearly in black and white.

This worksheet is part of the Reading in Science series for grade 6. It supports TEKS 6.8A: compare and contrast gravitational, elastic, and chemical potential energies with kinetic energy. It is one of four connected TEKS 6.8A sheets: what energy is, gravitational potential energy, elastic and chemical potential energy, and comparing potential and kinetic energy. The unit big idea is that energy can be stored, transferred, and transformed, but it is not created or destroyed.

Why It Works

Each sheet opens with a Big Question, teaches the key terms in plain words with simple black-and-white doodles, and then asks students to use only what the page taught. The focus is on comparing kinds of energy, not formulas, and the visual answer key lets teachers check work fast.