How Moving Air and Water Move Things

How Moving Air and Water Move Things: Grade 4 Science Worksheet

What pushes a sailboat? Moving air and moving water have energy, and that energy can push things and make them move. Students decide whether moving air or moving water pushes a sailboat, a canoe on a Florida river, a pinwheel, and a water wheel, then compare a slow breeze with a fast hurricane and a slow stream with a fast wave.

Key Science Vocabulary

• energy: the ability to make things move or change
• wind: moving air
• current: moving water in a river or ocean
• water wheel: a wheel turned by moving water
• hurricane: a storm with very fast wind

What Students Do

• Read a short teach box on wind and water energy
• Part A: four picture rows; circle moving air or moving water
• Part B: two picture pairs and a sailboat question; circle the one with more energy
• Answer key with a red reason line

Standards

Florida SC.4.P.10.4: Describe how moving water and air are sources of energy and can be used to move things.

Where It Fits in Grades 3 to 8

Earlier grades notice wind and water moving objects. Grade 4 names moving air and water as energy sources. In grade 5 and middle school, this grows into renewable energy, wind turbines, and hydroelectric power.

Teaching Tip

Float a paper-sail boat in a tub and blow on it softly, then hard. Students see that faster air pushes harder. Prints clearly in black and white and takes 8 to 10 minutes.