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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Feeling the Heat

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Pupils record temperatures at different locations around campus. They examine the results and draw conclusions about how materials and colors affect the amount of heat produced. They also analyze Los Angeles' temperature records over a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Absorption and Radiation

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students experiment with the concepts of absorption and reflection of radiant energy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Absorption of Solar Energy

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Two sequential parts to this lesson introduce your class to the electromagnetic spectrum, the ability to absorb radiant energy, and the pigments in leaves that are responsible for collecting sunlight to be used in the photosynthetic...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Chicago Botanic Garden

Albedo, Reflectivity, and Absorption

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
What is reflectivity, and what does it have to do with the Earth's climate? As reflectivity is measured by albedo, scientists can gather information on Earth's energy balances that relate to global warming or climate change. Budding...
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Instructional Video1:14
PBS

Light Absorption: Effects of Light | UNC-TV Science

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Beat the summer heat by exploring the properties of color. Scientists view a video explaining the relationship between light absorption and energy transfer using variables including intensity, time, and wavelength. A multiple-choice...
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Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Solar Cooking Race

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
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Lesson Plan
Center Science Education

Looking Into Surface Albedo

For Teachers 5th - 10th
How does the color of a surface affect the heating of the earth? Middle school science classes experiment with color and surface albedo to determine the relationship. The website has tabs for an overview, teacher's instructions,...
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Lesson Plan
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Bonneville

Passive Solar Water Heating

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Put empty milk jugs to good use. Scholars consider the characteristics they might change about a milk jug to improve light absorption. They design a passive solar water heater using the milk jug and then measure the temperature change in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Heat Escape

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students observe a demonstration on the role of thermal conductivity in heat transfer.  In this thermal conductivity lesson, students design and conduct an experiment to compare the thermal conductivity of four substances.  Lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Radiation and Color

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore the relationship between color and heat absorption by measuring the temperature change of water in differently colored test tubes as they are exposed to a heat lamp. They work in small groups to collect data and...
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Activity
Exploratorium

Give and Take

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Heat-sensitive liquid crystal sheets are available in a variety of sizes and temperature ranges. Purchase a class set of hand-held sheets and color half of each with a silver permanent marking pen. Learners of light can hold them under a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction to Energy Transfer and Transformation

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...
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Lesson Plan
US Department of Energy

Effects of Solar Radiation on Land and Sea

For Teachers 5th - 7th
New ReviewEarth science enthusiasts experiment to compare the heating rates of soil and water. They relate their findings to the weather conditions near bodies of water. Consider also having middle schoolers measure the cooling rates to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Three Methods of Heat Transfer

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Pupils participate in a variety of experiments designed to illustrate types of heat transfer including conduction, convection and radiation. They complete worksheets as an assessment of the experiments.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weather and Oceans: Uneven Heating of the Earth

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate what causes the heat on Earth.  In this Earth heating lesson, students experiment with different heat sources and determine where the Earth gathers the most heat.  Students explore vocabulary words associated with...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let the Sunshine In

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders conduct an experiment which demonstrates the absorption and reflection of sunlight by measuring the heat flow through various window coverings. They predict the relative amount of the sun's heat. Students draw conclusions...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Albedo and Irradiation of Surfaces

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Here is a physical science activity where pupils place thermometers inside of a white and a black paper pocket and place them under a lamp. They record and compare the temperature increase over a ten-minute period. Have your class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Light Can Heat Too!

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders explore absorption and reflection of light energy. For this solar energy lesson, 3rd graders explore how light energy transfers to heat energy through the construction of a solar water heater. Students will discuss and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Absorption

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students examine how heat moves from substance to another.  In this heat absorption lesson students identify ways that heat is transferred and analyze data.
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Earth's Global Energy Budget

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce your earth science enthusiasts to the earth's energy budget. Teach them using an informative set of slides that include illuminating lecturer's notes, relevant vocabulary, embedded animations, colorful satellite maps, and a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Iron in Foods

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine the amount of iron in a sample of cereal. In this iron lesson plan, students use a computer colorimeter to measure the amount of light absorbed by the solutions. They create a calibration curve using standard solutions...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Identifying Materials by their Reflectivity

For Students 8th - 10th
For this reflectivity worksheet, students read about the absorption and reflectivity of light by different materials. Students solve 4 problems and determine the composition of given materials based on the amount of light reflected. They...
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Lesson Plan
Space Awareness

Global Warming of the Atmosphere

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Scientists know the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today is higher than at any point in the last 800,000 years. Scholars learn about the amount of thermic radiation absorbed by air and what happens to the rest of the...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

What Does Color Have to Do with Cooling?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Study the rate of cooling for objects of different colors. Learners focus on the reflection and absorption of infrared light. Your classes may be surprised to learn objects that heat the slowest also cool the slowest.

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