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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars distinguish between kinetic an potential energy. They recognize that energy is conserved when changing from one form to another. Students compare the scientific meaning of work with its everyday meaning.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thermal Energy Transfer - Conduction

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Young scholars examine how heat passes through a pane glass window.  In this energy transfer lesson students complete a lab activity.
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Activity
It's About Time

What Drives the Plates?

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
It's getting hot in here! Lead your emerging geoscientists on a thrilling journey as they calculate liquid densities to determine forces that stimulate thermal plates from within the earth's crust. They explore effects of temperature on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Electric Hookup

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students determine the wattage of appliances found in the home. They identify ways to conserve energy and calculate the number of kilowatt-hours that appliances use. They also discover the costs per kilowatt-hour for the appliances.
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

How Does the Earth Cool Itself Off?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Where does all the heat go when the sun goes down? An interesting lesson has learners explore this question by monitoring the infrared radiation emitted over time. They learn that hot spots cool more quickly that cooler spots.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat and Thermodynamics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This is actually a 10-day mini unit on thermal energy for your high school chemists. Every avenue is taken to get learners absorbed in heat: a pretest, a PowerPoint presentation, Internet exploration, demonstrations, lab activities, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Hilly Ride

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders investigate situations that show how kinetic and potential energy are exchanged. They determine how friction is a source of energy transfer from kinetic to thermal energy by experimenting with a car and track. They answer...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Introduction to Thermal Spray Technology

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
Students discuss difference between kinetic and thermal energy, develop and demonstrate understanding of key concepts and characteristics underlying thermal spray techniques, list items used in their daily lives that are coated, examine...
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Lesson Plan
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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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate Change & Coral Activities

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Learners study how the ocean stabilizes our planet's climates and how global warming is becoming a threat to this fine balance.  In this climate change lesson, students identify that fossil fuel emissions are responsible for global...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insulators, Conductors, and Energy Transfer

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders conduct experiments to determine what types of material make good insulators. They prepare a graph of time vs. temperature for their sample. They choose a graph using each kind of material to display for class analysis and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ocean Power

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explore the energy resources of the ocean. In this energy lesson, students participate in 4 activities focused on energy resources from the ocean.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Survival Still

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain how to desalinate water using solar energy.  In this solar lesson students complete a lab activity and explain capillary water. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sand or Rock? Finding Out From 1,000 km

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe how measurements are made with different instruments.  In this remote sensing lesson students investigate the physical state of surfaces including the surfaces of the solar system. 
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Why Does it Get Colder on a Clear Night than a Cloudy Night?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Clouds are nature's insulator! A lab investigation asks learners to use an infrared thermometer to measure differences in infrared temperatures. They find that pointing the thermometer at a cloud has a much different result than pointing...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

Do Cities Affect the Weather? (Making a Cloud in a Bottle)

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The dynamics of a city can have a drastic effect on the weather. A hands-on lesson asks learners to build a model to illustrate how city pollution provides a nucleus for condensation. The greater the pollution, the greater chance for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What's Cooking

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students complete a solar radiation activity. In this solar radiation instructional activity, students complete an experiment to learn about solar radiation. Students make solar tea by using the energy of the Sun to brew tea.
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

What Is a "Convection Cell"?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Round and round in circles it goes! A hands-on activity has learners recreate a model of a convection cell. They watch as the difference in density of their materials creates a current.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who Turned on the Lights?

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders discuss how energy is transformed from one form to another. In this physics lesson, 7th graders design and build their own hydro generator. They identify the factors that affect its energy production.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Power

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They investigate the thermal properties of different materials. They evaluate the usefulness of each material.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You're Eating More Energy Than You Think!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate the concept that different forms of packaging require different amounts of energy.
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

How Can Clouds Keep the Air Warmer?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Condensing water warms the air around it. Young scholars consider this concept as they experiment with air temperature around evaporating and condensing water vapor. They simulate the formation of clouds to experience the associated...
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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

Heat Pollution and Communities

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine thermal pollution by collecting temperature data on the school's photovoltaic panel. Students collect data for four consecutive days and retrieve information from other classes that meet at different times of the day. ...

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