Curated OER
Where Does Earth's Heat Come From?
Students try to determine how the Earth is heated by the sun and other sources. In groups, they identify the other sources of energy and discover why different parts of the world are heated differently during the year. They complete an...
DiscoverE
Aviary Architect
Groups of two to four work collaboratively to engineer a birdhouse that will stay cool in the summer heat. Teams examine several different-colored roofs, testing the efficiency of each with a heat lamp. Then, groups sketch their ideas,...
Curated OER
Striking a Balance
Students demonstrate understanding of food chain by assuming roles of animals, playing tag, and simulating feeding relationships.
Curated OER
Striking a Balance
Students explore the many different food chains. They participate in a game in which the class is divided into the different parts of the food chain.
DiscoverE
At Home: Keep a Cube Activity
Let cooler heads prevail. Future engineers first learn about heat transfer and insulation. They then design and build a contraption that will prevent an ice cube from melting for as long as possible.
Curated OER
Investigating and Using Biomass Gases
Students examine the definitions of biomas gasification and generate their own biomass gas. In this renewable energy lesson students collect gases and roast a marshmallow.
Curated OER
Science: Hurricanes As Heat Engines
Learners 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
What is Thermal Energy?
In this thermal energy worksheet, students will write down two facts about thermal energy and then they will draw a conclusion based on these two facts.
Curated OER
Solar Box Cooker
Learners explore solar power. In this solar power instructional activity, students build simple solar cookers after they study convection, conduction, and radiation. Learners transfer their knowledge of how the solar cooker works to...
Curated OER
Keep It Cool
Students complete a science experiment to study insulation, heat transfer, and permafrost. In this permafrost study lesson, students design and test a soda insulator. Students graph their class data and discuss the results. Students...
Curated OER
Driving Currents
Learners 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
Who Turned on the Lights?
Seventh graders discuss how energy is transformed from one form to another. In this physics lesson, 7th graders design and build their own hydro generator. They identify the factors that affect its energy production.
Curated OER
Pendulum Power
Eighth graders study the Law of Conservation of Energy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. they create a pendulum out of either a rope with a bowling ball or barbell tied to one end.
Curated OER
Natural Refrigeration
Students build a refrigerator that does not require electricity. In this environmental science lesson, student consider desert dwellers of Africa who have no access to electricity. Students use flower pots, sand and water to study the...
Curated OER
Melts in Your Bag, Not in Your Hands
Students study how the sun transfers heat to the earth through radiation. They examine how animals absorb energy from the sun to warm their bodies by experiment with chocolate melting. They examine sun safety.
Curated OER
It's Gettin' Hot In Here, So Transfer Energy
Learners study the means by which energy is transferred from the sun through the Earth's atmosphere. They examine radiation, conduction, and convection. They complete a lab to determine how the different transfers affect the atmosphere...
Curated OER
Living With the Heat: The Ring of Fire
Students investigate the planet Earth's infamous ring of fire and the life that thrives from it. In this ocean environment lesson, students investigate hydrothermal vents and how organisms thrive off their heat. Students...
Curated OER
the biggest Plates on Earth
Students understand the movement of tectonic plates. In this tectonic plates activity, students access prior knowledge of convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries. Students discuss energy transfer involved in plate...
Curated OER
Heat And Heat Transfer
Students role play molecules in a container as the container is heated to develop a definition of heat and temperature. They also observe demonstrations of conduction, convection, radiation, and phase transfer. Using these observations...
Curated OER
Heat Transfer Team Review Quiz
For this heat transfer worksheet, students answer one true or false question about heat and three multiple choice questions about heat transfer including conduction, convection and radiation.
Curated OER
Heat Transfer
The students construct a heating curve and explain its components. They perform calculations. They review phase changes and quantify Energy differences. They review phases of matter and their energy content.
Curated OER
Latent Heat and Clouds
Learners explore latent heat and how it relates to clouds in the atmosphere. In this earth science lesson students investigate how clouds are formed. Learners examine clouds and the water cycle.
Bonneville
Manipulating Design Variables on Solar Heaters
Always strive to make things better. The second of three activities in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has learners design new solar heaters that are more effective compared to the simple models they used in the previous lesson...
PBS
Insulation Station
It's all about the material. Learners experiment with different substances as they try to keep an ice cube from melting. They draw conclusions by answering a set of questions about the types and amount of material that had the best result.