Curated OER
Energy from the Sun
In this energy from the sun worksheet, learners are given 20 terms to complete sentences about the sun, the energy of the sun, the radiation of the sun, the transfer of energy from the sun and the currents created by the energy of the sun.
Curated OER
Science: Hurricanes As Heat Engines
Students conduct Internet research to track the path of Hurricane Rita. They record the sea surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico during and after the hurricane and draw conclusions about how hurricanes extract heat energy from the...
Curated OER
Maintaining Body Heat
Young scholars observe and compare heat loss in different objects with surface-to-volume ratios. They transfer this comparison to the physical characteristics of animals in their environment. They focus on how whales maintain their body...
Curated OER
The Earth's Atmosphere and Temperature
Students describe and compare the layers of the atmosphere. They explain how to measure the temperature of the atmosphere and discover what causes the atmosphere to heat up in some places more than in others.
Teach Engineering
How Hot is Hot?
Elementary schoolers identify the three methods of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The lesson is mostly lecture-based. When the teacher has finished the presentation, groups of pupils get into teams and they must...
Discovery Education
It's Getting Hot in Here
Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...
Polar Trec
South Pole Ice Cream!
How can you turn an ice cream activity into a scientific investigation? It's easy if you know ionic compounds, heat transfer, and the exothermic and endothermic process. Learners will explore the science behind freezing, insulation, and...
Curated OER
Warm and Cold Air
Students conduct an experiment to discover what happens to air when it is heated or cooled, discover that wind moves from a high-pressure area (an area of sinking air) to a low pressure area (an area of rising air).
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....
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...
DiscoverE
Squishy Circuits
Make electricity flow through Play-Doh. Individuals create animals or other creatures using Play-Doh. The engineering aspect? Eyes that light up and Play-Doh that conducts electricity.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Float or Sink?
Experiment with mass and density as scholars figure out what makes things float or sink. First, they watch a podcast introducing these concepts. Be sure to use the comprehension question to test their understanding. Young scientists...
Curated OER
Colorful Indicators
Young chemists learns about acids and bases by coming up with a solution that will test for each. They also access the Internet to perform research. They are encouraged to contact students in other schools by conducting the experiment at...
Curated OER
Temperature
Several slides compare different temperature scales. Thermal expansion, heat transfer, and Maxwell speed distribution are also explored. The last two slides seem unrelated to the topic of heat, but are easily left out of this otherwise...
Curated OER
Rock My World
Middle schoolers conduct a hands-on experiment designed to demonstrate how continents and oceans formed and why the manner of formation is relevant to a study of volcanoes.
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
Bringing Climate Change Into the Classroom
Students investigate the greenhouse effect and examine the potential effects of climate change in the Arctic. They construct a mini-greenhouse and test its effect on temperature, analyze historical climate statistics, and conduct an...
Curated OER
The Transfer of Energy 3: Rust and Corrosion
Students research the type of chemical reaction that occurs when metal rusts. They conduct an experiment looking at the rate of corrosion in steel wool. This is lesson three in a three lesson unit on the transfer of energy.
Curated OER
Why Do We Have Weather?
Convection is offered as the reason behind our weather phenomena. This presentation assumes that viewers are familiar with the methods of heat transfer, and is therefore more geared toward middle-school meteorologists. The focus is on...
Pingry School
Flame Tests
Light a fire in your pupils! Scholars conduct a flame test and observe the emission spectra of several different salts in an enlightening hands-on investigation. They use their observations to make comparisons and conclusions about the...
Curated OER
Sky Observations Sky & Cloud Windows
Students observe the sky and weather to gather data. They conduct experiments to answer questions about the sky and weather phenomena. They measure, analyze and present data. They create sky windows by gluing sky colored paint chips...
Virginia Department of Education
Weathering of Limestone
We all know limestone weathers, but what affects the rate of weathering? Young scientists investigate the physical and chemical weathering of limestone (chalk) through experimentation. First, they conduct trials with different-size...
Curated OER
Scientific Detectives
Young scholars examine the legitimacy of advertisers' claims about products using science and critical thinking. They view and discuss ads, read a case study, and conduct an experiment to demonstrate whether a product lives up to its...
Curated OER
Conservation of Mass
High schoolers conduct an experiment to compare the total mass of products to the mass of reactants. In this conservation of mass lesson plan, students devise an experiment to show that matter is neither created or destroyed in a...