Physical science learners conduct a simple experiment using the heat of their hands to affect the fluid pressure. They place a balloon atop a freezing cold bottle and observe what occurs as it warms up. Both activities demonstrate how...

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...

Ninth graders explore the relationship between heat and temperature. After performing experiments, 9th graders record their observations and discuss the results. They investigate the properties of heat and explore how energy possessed...

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...

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,...

How can you effectively provide detailed concepts of water properties to your high school class in a way they find exciting and challenging at the same time? By letting them play, of course! Through a variety of...

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...

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 simple activity is ideal for upper elementary learners when studying physical science. Using their sense of touch to describe how hot something feels, and then comparing their observations to thermometer measurements, they discover...

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...

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...

Examine how heat can be transferred between systems by reconstructing a diagram on energy flow and solving problems on heat flow and work done.

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...

Three Dog Night isn't just the name of a band; it is also the way an Australian tribe, who used dogs to stay warm, would describe the temperature on a cool evening. After reading about many different ways of measuring temperature, the...

Students work with three stations to demonstrate the properties of water. They explore water's boiling point, freezing point, and its ability to store heat.

Model hardness testing with a self-designed hardness test. Young scholars rate the hardness of different types of aspirin using the Vicker's Hardness scale. They then relate hardness to the solubility of each aspirin tablet.

Students explore liquids and solids by conducting in class experiments. In this matter instructional activity, students define the properties of matter and how heat can change those properties. Students experiment with heating objects...

Elementary school physical scientists explore kinetic mechanical energy by dropping a golf ball on different surfaces. They discuss how human made materials might react to light differently from nature made materials. This lesson plan...

How can one easily classify metals, nonmetals, and metalloids? Pupils answer this question as they experiment with unknown substances and perform tests on conductivity, brittleness, and malleability to determine...

A total of five experiments lead chemistry pros to understand the difference between physical and chemical change. They also experiment with exothermic reaction factors that affect rate of reaction. The procedures are not written in the...

Students observe physical change of melting by observing substance in original state, melting substance, allowing substance to return to original temperature, determining if substance retained its original properties, and recording results.

Young scholars 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...

Young scholars 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....

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...