The Bear Family was walking through the forest and eating berries from trees. After eating his fill, Baby Bear sat and watched the rest of his home move around him. He noticed snakes slowly slithered on the ground as birds quickly flew above him in the trees. The bushes stood still and the river rushed by with a trickling sound.

"Mama," Baby Bear asked, "Why does everything move at such different paces?" "Well," Mama Bear replied, "because everything has energy!"

"What is energy?" Baby Bear asked. "Energy is the ability to do work; everything requires energy," Mama Bear replied.

"But how does everything have energy? What about things that don't move, like this fence?"

"There are two different kinds of energy, potential and kinetic," Mama Bear replied. "Let me show you on our walk home the differences between the two!"

"The first kind of energy is potential energy, or stored energy. It is waiting to be acted on," Mama Bear said. "Look at how the leaves aren't moving on the trees. This is potential energy because they are waiting to be acted on."

"What about when the leaves move?" asked curious Baby Bear. "That is called kinetic energy, or the energy of motion. The faster something moves the more energy it has," replied Mama Bear, "What else do you see with potential energy?"