Curated OER
Heat, Temperature, and Transfer
Physical science scholars discover an array of heat sources. They experiment to connect radiation to heat. They begin to understand thermal equilibrium. Then, they test to see if mass affects the rate of temperature change. Choose a few,...
Curated OER
Comparing Graphs of Temperature and Radiation
Students study plots and use a Live Access Server to generate plots. In this temperature lesson students examine the process of incoming and outgoing radiation.
Curated OER
Radiation Comparison Before and After 9-11
Using the NASA website, class members try to determine if changes could be detected in cloud cover, temperature, and/or radiation measurements due to the lack of contrails that resulted from the halt in air traffic after the attacks of...
McGraw Hill
Blackbody Radiation Interactive
Noting the color of a star is equivalent to taking its temperature! A creative lesson describes the connection between a star's temperature and the color it emits. As pupils interact with a simulation, they learn how to connect the...
Curated OER
Gallery Walk Questions on Earth's Radiation Balance
Questions that can be used in a lesson on Earth's radiation balance are suggested in this resource. It is not a lesson plan, per se, but it is a list of questions for stations within a "Gallery Walk" lesson. The link to how Gallery Walks...
Curated OER
A Comparison of Land and Water Temperature
Young scholars examine NASA satellite observations of surface temperature and investigate the seasonal changes of land and water temperature.
Curated OER
Radiation and Color
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...
Curated OER
Star Light, Star Bright
Four modules are a part of this stellar lesson plan. Space scientists view the electromagnetic spectrum, they generate waves on a computer screen in order to measure frequency and wavelength, discover how light is related to temperature,...
Curated OER
Conduction, Convection and Radiation
Sixth graders listen to descriptions of types of heat to gain background knowledge In this heat lesson, 6th graders perform experiments to understand various types of heat transfer (convection, conduction and radiation.) Students assess...
Curated OER
Radiation Budget Lesson: Exploring Albedo
Students experiment with sunlight and temperature. They study the definition of albedo, or the percentage of incoming sunlight that is reflected, rather than absorbed.
Virginia Middle School Engineering Education Initiative
Save the Penguins: An Introduction to Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
Heat things up in your physical science class with this interactive lesson series on thermodynamics. Through a series of class demonstrations and experiments, young scientists learn how heat is transferred through conduction, convention,...
Curated OER
Atmospheric Processes - Radiation
Students investigate how different surfaces absorb heat, and how the physical characteristics of a surface have a powerful effect on the way a surface absorbs and releases heat from the sun.
Colorado State University
Why Does it Get Colder on a Clear Night than a Cloudy Night?
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...
Curated OER
Demonstration of Factors Affecting Soil Temperature
Students examine the influences of water and mulch on soil temperature. In this investigative activity students complete a soil experiment.
Curated OER
Earth's Atmosphere and Temperature
Students explore the layers of earth's atmosphere and conduct an experiment to identify carbon dioxide. They construct models using styrofoam to represent molecules in the atmosphere's layers. To discover how sunlight efffects...
Curated OER
Variables Affecting Earth's Albedo
Students study the variables that affect the Earth's albedo. In this environmental data analysis lesson students interpret and graph information and calculate changes.
Curated OER
An Overview of Solar Radiation
Students examine the Stefan-Boltzmann Law. Students compute basic radiative "constants" of the sun-Earth-atomosphere system. They examine the wavelength of maximum radiation emission.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Hot Cans and Cold Cans
Students work on problems in which they investigate conduction, convection, and radiation. They attempt to maintain the warmth in one can of soda while cooling the other as much as possible in a thirty minute period. They examine how...
Curated OER
Hot Cans and Cold Cans
Students investigate the physics of heating and cooling through conduction, convection, and radiation. Working in groups, they determine the best way to cool a can of water and warm a can of water. Temperature is taken at five minute...
Curated OER
A Comparison of Land and Water Temperature
Young scholars use the NASA website's Live Access Server to create a graph of surface temperature at two locations on earth. They analyze the data and then answer specific questions provided in this instructional activity. They also...
Curated OER
The Effects of Temperature on Solids
Learners explore the effects that extreme temperatures have on the material properties of solids. They investigate the properties of a material whose state depends on extreme temperatures and witness how it interacts with room...
Curated OER
The Reason for the Seasons
Young scholars compare graphs of their data that was generated on a NASA website. In this seasons lesson students complete a lab activity.
McGraw Hill
Stellar Spectroscopy Interactive
Stars seem to be a far away mystery... but it turns out we know much more about stars than one would think! An engaging lesson shows learners how to read a light spectrum to determine the temperature and chemical makeup of a star. They...
Curated OER
Bing! Bang! Boom!
Sixth graders investigate heat energy, conduction, convection, and radiation.