Center for Learning in Action
Water—Changing States (Part 1)
Here is part one of a two-part lesson plan in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas. With grand conversation and up to three demonstrations, learners make predictions about what they think will...
Science 4 Inquiry
Investigating How Heat Flows
It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...
Curated OER
Temperature Changes Everything
Middle school chemists visit interactive websites in order to discover what happens to molecular motion when heat is added to matter. They conduct an experiment that demonstrates the expansion of matter with the addition of heat. A lab...
Curated OER
Typical Conceptual Questions for Physics I - Heat
This worksheet would make a nifty quiz on the laws of thermodynamics. Nine multiple choice questions assess high schoolers' understanding of energy transfer, specific heat capacity, phase change, fusion, and vaporization. It is short but...
Chicago Botanic Garden
Albedo, Reflectivity, and Absorption
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...
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...
Center for Learning in Action
Water – Changing States (Part 2)
Here is part two of a two-part activity in which scholars investigate the changing states of water—liquid, solid, and gas—and how energy from heat changes its molecules. With grand conversation, two demonstrations, and one hands-on...
Concord Consortium
Making and Breaking Bonds: The Effect of Temperature
Time to turn the heat up on your next bonding lesson! Young chemists explore temperature, kinetic energy, and bonding through an interesting interactive. The controls allow individuals to vary the temperature, as well as pause progress...
American Chemical Society
Evaporation
This is one in several lessons that explore the relationship between temperature and phase changes of water. After some discussion, elementary physical scientists place wet paper toweling on a hot and a room-temperature water bag...
Oceanic Research Group
Heat Transfer and Cooling
Astronauts train underwater to simulate the change in gravity. An out-of-this-world unit includes three hands-on activities, one teacher demonstration, and a discussion related to some of the challenges astronauts face. Scholars apply...
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Global Warming in a Jar
This well-organized lab activity introduces earth science pupils to the greenhouse effect. They will set up two experiments to monitor temperatures in an open jar, a closed jar, and a closed jar containing water. Ideally, you would have...
Space Awareness
Continental Climate and Oceanic Climate
There's nothing better than a cool breeze blowing in from the ocean. Scholars explore how water affects change in temperature using a hands-on experiment on climate. They use measurement tools to compare the continental and oceanic...
Curated OER
Heating and Cooling a Really Large Lizard
Young scholars investigate the effect of temperature on cold-blooded animals, using a 5 x 8 inch index card to represent a dinosaur as their model organism. Students measure temperature changes that occurs at different angles to a light...
Curated OER
Temperature Changes Everything
Learners determine the effect of temperature on the motion of particles. They study the difference between particles in a gas, liquid, and a solid and see how the characteristics of solids, liquids, and gases can be explained by particle...
Curated OER
Phase Changes of Water
A micro-unit on the phase changes of water includes three laboratory activities. Junior scientists compare the densities of ice and water, and then they do the same for cold and warm water. They examine freezing and boiling temperatures....
American Chemical Society
Change in Temperature - Endothermic Reaction
Now that learners have been exposed to chemical changes, they learn that some take in heat and therefore, decrease in temperature. The same reaction that they have been investigating between baking soda and vinegar is revisited,...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Rising Ocean Temperatures - Rising Sea Levels
As an anticipatory set, young environmental technicians watch a video about how ocean temperatures seem to be changing along with the global climate. They perform a laboratory demonstration with the purpose of observing what happens to...
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...
Space Awareness
Water is a Heat Sink
One of the key objectives of Europe's Copernicus Earth program is to monitor the temperatures of the oceans and seas on Earth. Young scholars learn the effects of different heat capacities through two experiments. These experiments...
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a instructional activity that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate...
Pingry School
Heat of Reaction and Hess's Law
Melting and burning might seem like opposites, but both exist as common examples of exothermic reactions. Scholars work with three different exothermic chemical reactions to determine the enthalpy changes. They measure and mix chemicals,...
CK-12 Foundation
Mineral Formation: Evaporating Lake
Get crazy for crystals! Junior geologists learn the secrets of crystal formation through lecture, reading, and examples. Other topics include common ionic compounds found in fresh and salt water, the effects of location on forming...
Mr. E. Science
Changes in Matter
Do solids, liquids, and gases even matter? The presentation focuses on changes in matter, including phases, Boyle's Law, Charles' Law, and physical changes.
National Wildlife Federation
The Tide is High, but I’m Holding On… Using ICESat Data to Investigate Sea Level Rise
Based on the rate of melting observed from 2003-2007 in Greenland, it would take less than 10 minutes to fill the Dallas Cowboys' Stadium. The 17th lesson in a series of 21 has scholars use the ICESat data to understand the ice mass...