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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 5 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. How far did the struck marble roll after the 10 cm release?
  2. 2. What happened to the striking marble at 10 cm?
  3. 3. Where did the struck marble's movement come from?
  4. 4. What happens to the struck marble as the release height rises?
2.You predict a 20 cm release will beat 21 cm of travel. What is that prediction based on?
  • A.The pattern of increasing travel with increasing height
  • B.A guess
  • C.The colour of the marble
3.Two identical marbles collide head on and both stop. Where did the energy go?
  • A.Into the table's colour
  • B.It was destroyed
  • C.Into sound, heat and squashing at the moment of contact
4.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
5.The striking marble arrives faster. What happens to the struck marble?
  • A.Nothing changes
  • B.It rolls less far
  • C.It rolls further, because more energy was transferred
6.What would you measure to compare two collisions?
  • A.How far the struck object moves afterwards
  • B.How loud you shout
  • C.The colour of the marbles
7.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

LessonPrint · 4-PS3-3 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — When Things Collide

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.