The Power of Life. ENERGY.

 

The Power of Life. ENERGY.

Without energy in our bodies, we wouldn't be able to do anything. We couldn't walk, talk, or even play. Energy is usable power. And all energy is related to some kind of motion.

    All living things need energy, no matter what they do. Plants get their energy from sunlight. The energy is stored in chemicals inside the plant. This happens in a process called 'photosynthesis'.

    Animals that eat plants take in the energy stored in the plants. The energy is then stored in chemicals inside the animals as 'food energy’. The same happens when animals eat other animals Plants and animal use energy every day as they grow and do the work of being a plant or an animal. So plants have to keep absorbing sunlight, and animals have to keep eating plants or other animals.

    It isn't only living things that have energy. A dead tree has hidden energy. When we burn its wood it gives off warmth, or 'heat energy'. The Sun also makes heat energy as it constantly burns.

The Power of Life. ENERGY.

The Sun gives off not just heat but also light, as light energy'. The battery in a torch makes it shine, generating light energy. But if we put the same battery in a radio, we get music. A battery's energy is known as 'electrical energy'. And in a toy car that electrical energy produces movement, or 'kinetic energy'.

     If we couldn't use heat, light, or electrical energy, we wouldn't be able to drive cars or cook food. We would't have light at night. Basically, we'd have to use the energy of our own bodies. And that would mean eating a lot more and doing a lot less.