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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 4 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. Where did the struck marble's movement come from?
  2. 2. What would a release from 20 cm probably do?
  3. 3. What happened to the striking marble at 10 cm?
  4. 4. What happens to the struck marble as the release height rises?
2.Why keep the same track and surface for every trial?
  • A.To save time
  • B.It does not matter
  • C.So only the release height differs between trials
3.Two identical marbles collide head on and both stop. Where did the energy go?
  • A.It was destroyed
  • B.Into sound, heat and squashing at the moment of contact
  • C.Into the table's colour
4.A collision makes a clicking sound. What does that tell you?
  • A.The marbles gained energy
  • B.Sound has no energy
  • C.Some energy left as sound
5.You predict a 20 cm release will beat 21 cm of travel. What is that prediction based on?
  • A.The colour of the marble
  • B.The pattern of increasing travel with increasing height
  • C.A guess
6.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
7.A rolling marble hits a still marble and stops. What happened to its energy?
  • A.It was transferred to the marble it hit
  • B.It stayed in the first marble
  • C.It disappeared

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

Answer key — When Things Collide

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.