Rochester Institute of Technology
Heat Transfer
Use an exciting role play activity to teach young chemists about the importance of heat transfer in maintaining homeostasis. They assume the role of a dog sled owner who has been abandoned and must fend for themselves with only a few...
Kenan Fellows
What Is Heat?
If objects have no heat, how do they can gain and lose it? Scholars experiment with heat, temperature, and specific heat of various substances. They create definitions for these terms based on their own conclusions to complete the fourth...
Virginia Department of Education
Molar Heat of Fusion for Water
How can you describe heat of fusion in a way the class understands and relates the importance of this concept to present day issues? In this third lesson of the series, learners conduct an experiment, demonstrating the flow of heat...
US Department of Energy
Geothermal Energy
With Earth Day quickly approaching, as well as many science fairs, why not challenge your class to investigate geothermal energy or other renewable energy resources? There are five driving questions explored in depth here, as well as...
Curated OER
The Great Heat Escape
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...
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and evaporation while...
Curated OER
Heat Energy and Water
Fourth graders brainstorm the differences between heat and temperature. In groups, they determine the best way to melt ice without touching the ice. They record their observations and compare them with other groups. To end the lesson,...
Curated OER
Methods of Heat Transfer
Eighth graders discuss the forms of heat transfer that relate to the human body. Discussion revolves around the ability of different designs of hats to change the rate of heat transfer to and from the body. Students then experiment...
Curated OER
Heat Retention
Students test 4 materials to see which would be best for use as a heat mass. They then graph the temperature verus the time of the substances and decide which material would make the best heat mass.
Curated OER
Heating Crystals
Students examine the effects of heating on various crystals. They answer questions in the observation category which assess their ability to use a variety of senses to observe data in a certain way- a scientific way.
Curated OER
Energy Transformation
Students experiment with variety of materials to investigate, develop inferences, and differentiate between concepts of motion energy and heat energy, and the part played by friction in the transformation process.
Curated OER
Metals and Hydrogen Cars: Chemistry 10-12
Students investigate which metal is best to use as storage material in hydrogen cars. In this chemistry lesson, students differentiate endothermic and exothermic reactions. They write a reflection paragraph about what they learned in the...
University of California
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Calories are not tiny creatures that sew your clothes tighter every night, but what are they? A science lesson, presented at multiple levels, has learners experiment with heat, heat transfer, and graph the function over time. It also...
Virginia Department of Education
States of Matter
Scientists have been studying exothermic reactions before they were cool. The lesson begins with a discussion and a demonstration of heat curves. Scholars then determine the heat of fusion of ice and the heat needed to boil water through...
Beyond Benign
Chemical or Physical Reaction?
Ready to take your chemistry class on its first big lab adventure? Dive in to differentiation between chemical and physical changes with a thoughtfully designed set of experiments! Partners conduct a series of reactions, describe their...
NASA
Climate Change Inquiry Lab
With global temperatures on the rise faster than ever recorded, the effects of a heating planet could be devastating. Allow learners to discover just what the world is in store for if the warming continues through a series of videos, a...
Curated OER
Driving Currents
Students conduct a variety of investigations to see how water, heat, and salinity affect the flow of the world's ocean currents,as well as, explore many factors that affect the flow of the world's ocean currents. They also describe in...
Curated OER
Insulators
Learners design and carry out an investigation to test which materials is the best insulator: they predict which way heat energy flows in a system and analyze the flow of energy in a system from one point to another and from one form to...
Curated OER
Ice Melting
Young scholars design investigations to test various materials to prevent heat gain in frozen water. The task assess students' knowledge of scientific inquiry including the following skills: observation, data collection, measurement,...
Curated OER
Melt Away
Students explore objects before and after heating using their senses. In this matter and energy lesson plan, students experiment with a variety of objects and use their senses (except taste) to make predictions and record observations...
Curated OER
Make Your Own Temperature Scale
Differentiate between temperature and thermal energy. Your class will build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. Discuss with your class and consider why engineers need to understand...
National Science Teacher Association
Middle School Sampler: Science
Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis and...
Curated OER
Thermal Expansion and Sea Level Rise
Placing a thermometer and a glass tube into a flask of cold water and sealing it, you can expose it to heat and very visually demonstrate thermal expansion to your earth science class. Follow it with a discussion about how the increasing...
STEM for Teachers
Temperature and Bounce
Take part in a fun experiment and hold an impromptu bouncing contest with your class. Young scientists heat and cool balls before bouncing them to determine whether temperature changes affect how they bounce. The set of STEM lesson plans...