Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Solar Structures

For Teachers 9th - 10th
During this lesson plan, students will construct a passive solar house from everyday items then explore how the sun's energy is used to heat and cool it.
Graphic
American Chemical Society

Middle School Chemistry: Air, It's Really There

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the properties of air, and what happens to air when heated and cooled.
Interactive
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Chemistry Simulation: Phase Change

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] Explore how heat and temperature relate to phase changes.
Handout
Other

Warmair.com: Programmable Thermostats

For Students 9th - 10th
The virtues of programmable thermostats are discussed. Includes a section titled "Thermostat Set-back Calculation;" the visitor can enter the normal and an adjusted thermostat setting and an outdoor temperature and view the percent...
Interactive
Davidson College

Davidson College: Calorimetry:heat of Solution of Sulfuric Acid

For Students 9th - 10th
An animation to investigate the rates of heating or cooling in a calorimeter. Also, molar enthalpy of solution of sulfuric acid is discovered.
Handout
California Institute of Technology

Nasa: Cool Cosmos: How Does Heat Travel?

For Students 6th - 8th
An explanation, with infrared images, of how heat is transferred from one object to another.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Rubber Band Elasticity and Temperature

For Students 9th - 10th
Many materials expand when heated and contract when cooled. What do you think will happen to the elasticity (stretchiness) of a rubber band when it is heated or cooled to various temperatures?
Interactive
University of Colorado

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Energy Forms and Changes

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore how heating and cooling iron, brick, and water adds or removes energy. See how energy is transferred between objects. Build your own system, with energy sources, changers, and users. Track and visualize how energy flows and...
Handout
State Energy Conservation Office-Texas

State Energy Conservation Office: Renewable Energy Guide for Buildings [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A basic guide for ways to be more energy-efficient and to use more renewable energy sources in a building. These include methods of reducing heat or cool air loss, ways of harnessing solar energy, and using the wind for ventilation.
Handout
State Energy Conservation Office-Texas

State Energy Conservation Office: Renewable Energy for the Home [Pdf]

For Students 4th - 6th
Discusses different ways to heat and cool a home, and perform a variety of tasks, using renewable energy sources. Examples include window shades, a solar water heater, solar-powered toys, etc.
Handout
University of Sydney (Australia)

Thermal Physics Module/heat Transfer 1 [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
The first of two pages discussing the different forms of thermal energy transfer. Equations expressing the rate of energy transfer by each of the methods are provided and discussed.
Activity
Other

Applied Thermodynamics: Heat Transfer

For Students 9th - 10th
Heat transfer, rates of heat exchange,conduction, radiation and convection are defined and discussed at this site from Applied Thermodynamics. Well illustrated.
Website
Oklahoma Mesonet

Oklahoma Climatological Survey: Cloud Development

For Students 9th - 10th
This site explores the importance of clouds and how clouds are formed. Content details common atmospheric cooling mechanisms and atmospheric stability.
Website
Concord Consortium

Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Phase Changes

For Students 9th - 10th
This activity reviews of states of matter, then relates them to atomic movement as it is affected by attractions between atoms and the addition of energy. Latent heat and evaporative cooling are also topics covered. Multiple-choice and...
Handout
Science Struck

Science Struck: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation

For Students 9th - 10th
Explains the concept of heat transfer and describes conduction, convection, and radiation which are the three modes of heat transfer. Includes formulas, examples, and applications.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation

For Teachers 6th - 8th
With the help of simple, teacher-led demonstration activities, students learn the basic concepts of heat transfer by means of conduction, convection, and radiation. Students then apply these concepts as they work in teams to solve two...
Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Middle School Chemistry: The Ups and Downs of Thermometers

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Based on experimental observations, students describe, on the molecular level, why the liquid in a thermometer goes up when it is heated and down when it is cooled.
Handout
MadSci Network

Msn: How Does an Air Conditioner or Refrigerator Work?

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Mad Scientist Network. Using a question and answer format, this page explains the answer to the question "How does An air conditioner or refrigerator work?" The scientific principles which underly their operation and the process...
Graphic
Curated OER

Etc: Maps Etc: Heat Belts in North America, 1898

For Students 9th - 10th
A map from 1898 showing the heat belts in North America. The map gives the boundary isotherms of the hot belt as a mean temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit and the cold belt as a mean temperature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating the...
Lesson Plan
The Wonder of Science

The Wonder of Science: 5 Ps1 2: Conservation of Matter

For Teachers 4th - 5th
On this site, find a variety of materials to help students understand the conservation of matter. Create lessons that allow students to measure and graph quantities that could show even if matter is heated, cooled or combined with other...
Handout
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Jean Charles Athanase Peltier (1785 1845)

For Students 9th - 10th
Although he didn't start studying physics until he retired from the clock-making business at age 30, French native Jean Peltier made immense contributions to science that still reverberate today. Even with the primitive tools available...
Handout
California Institute of Technology

Learn About Infrared

For Students 9th - 10th
The people at Cool Cosmos explain infrared in a comprehensible way. They use several sets of pictures for you to visually see how infrared rays work. Great for anyone doing research or just reading up on an interest.
Interactive
BBC

Bb Ci Schools: Revisewise Science: Solids, Liquids, Gases

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This site contains an interactive activity in which students can learn about the three states of matter. There is also a factsheet that lists numerous properties of liquids, solids, and gases. The factsheet also uses water as an example...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Hot Cans and Cold Cans

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students apply the concepts of conduction, convection, and radiation as they work in teams to solve two problems. One problem requires that they maintain the warm temperature of one soda can filled with water at approximately body...