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When Things Collide is a free printable Grade 4 science worksheet on asking and predicting what happens to energy in a collision, aligned to Common Core standard 4-PS3-3. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 21 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

When Things Collide

4-PS3-3

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

When Marbles Meet

A record of one marble rolled into a still marble, from three release heights. STRIKING MARBLE AND STRUCK MARBLE Released from 5 cm: striker nearly stopped, struck marble rolled 6 cm Released from 10 cm: striker stopped, struck marble rolled 13 cm Released from 15 cm: striker stopped, struck marble rolled 21 cm The struck marble was still before every collision. Same two marbles, same track, same surface.

  1. 1. What happens to the struck marble as the release height rises?
  2. 2. Where did the struck marble's movement come from?
  3. 3. What would a release from 20 cm probably do?
  4. 4. How far did the struck marble roll after the 10 cm release?
2.A rolling marble hits a still marble and stops. What happened to its energy?
  • A.It stayed in the first marble
  • B.It was transferred to the marble it hit
  • C.It disappeared
3.The striking marble arrives faster. What happens to the struck marble?
  • A.It rolls further, because more energy was transferred
  • B.Nothing changes
  • C.It rolls less far
4.What would you measure to compare two collisions?
  • A.How loud you shout
  • B.How far the struck object moves afterwards
  • C.The colour of the marbles
5.A collision makes a clicking sound. What does that tell you?
  • A.Some energy left as sound
  • B.The marbles gained energy
  • C.Sound has no energy
6.Two identical marbles collide head on and both stop. Where did the energy go?
  • A.Into sound, heat and squashing at the moment of contact
  • B.It was destroyed
  • C.Into the table's colour
7.You predict a 20 cm release will beat 21 cm of travel. What is that prediction based on?
  • A.A guess
  • B.The colour of the marble
  • C.The pattern of increasing travel with increasing height

LessonPrint · 4-PS3-3 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — When Things Collide

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It rolls further each time. 2. From the striking marble, which stopped as the struck marble started. 3. Send the struck marble further than 21 cm. 4. 13 cm.
  2. 2.It was transferred to the marble it hit
  3. 3.It rolls further, because more energy was transferred
  4. 4.How far the struck object moves afterwards
  5. 5.Some energy left as sound
  6. 6.Into sound, heat and squashing at the moment of contact
  7. 7.The pattern of increasing travel with increasing height

More practice for 4-PS3-3

Ask and predict what happens to energy when objects collide.

Teaching this next? When Things Collide is the 55-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 4-PS3-3 of the Next Generation Science Standards.