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...

During a unit on density, pupils ponder whether or not temperature affects this property. By carefully inserting blue cold water and yellow hot water into a room-temperature sample, they will see the answer. Make sure to have done the...

What makes particles attract? Here, learners engage in multiple activities that fully describe colligative properties and allow the ability to critically assess the importance of these properties in daily life. Young chemists...

Young scholars experiment with a pure substance and a phase change. In this heating and cooling curves lesson plan, students study the effects of heating and cooling a pure substance to observe a phase change. They determine both the...

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,...

Students investigate the relationship between evaporation and temperature changes. In this evaporation and changes in temperature lesson, students measure the changes in temperature of different solutions on a cotton ball.

Let's heat things up! This simple experiment demonstrates for students the important role the sun plays in providing the earth with energy. Place one cup of water in direct sunlight and one in shade, then take measurements in order to...

Put empty milk jugs to good use. Scholars consider the characteristics they might change about a milk jug to improve light absorption. They design a passive solar water heater using the milk jug and then measure the temperature change in...

Clever! Use a clip from the 1997 film, Volcano, to get your chemistry class knee-deep in heat concepts related to lava. In the movie scene, lava flow is stopped in the nick of time. Your class must use calculations to determine if this...

Chemistry whizzes test the change in water temperature produced by a burning candle and the change in acid temperature produced by magnesium metal. With these two laboratory activities they explore heat produced during chemical...

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...

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...

The heat of solution measures how much thermal energy a dissolving substance consumes or gives off. The experiment demonstrates both endothermic and exothermic reactions. Scholars dissolve several substances, measure the temperature...

Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed instructional activity...

Do you eat more when you are hot or when you are cold? Young scientists observe the eating pace of two caterpillars at different temperatures. The differences in endotherm and ecotherm animals' ability to adjust to temperature change...

Here is part one of a two-part lesson 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 happen...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Here is part two of a two-part instructional 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...

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...

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...

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...