Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's All In The Surface: The Effects Of Color & Texture On The Ability Of A Surface To Absorb Solar Energy

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders examine how dark surfaces absorb more light than light surfaces. They perform an experiment that compares various surfaces abilities to absorb heat, then record and analyze the results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Ultimate Roller Coaster Contest

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explain how conservation of energy applies to roller coasters. In this physics lesson, students construct their own coasters according to a specified criteria. They make modifications to their design when...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat: Mini Unit

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students experiment with heat. In this physical science lesson, students engage in hands-on activities to develop concepts related to heat. Students offer explanations for their observations using given vocabulary.
Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Homeostasis of Thermoregulation

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Whether you're battling the flu or trying to warm up on a chilly day, your body's ability to react to temperature change is fascinating! Anatomy scholars discover the fantastic feedback loops that control body temperature in a rigorous...
Unit Plan
Henry Ford Museum

Physics, Technology and Engineering in Automobile Racing

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Start your engines! This five-lesson unit introduces physics and Newton's laws through automobile racing. Each lesson includes background information, a student worksheet, and an answer key. There are also culminating...
Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Automotive Emissions and the Greenhouse Effect

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
It is recommended that you conduct this fabulous experiment as a whole-class demonstration. Collect air samples from the environment, human exhalation, and car exhaust, then compare them for carbon dioxide content using bromthymol blue...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What is Work?

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students investigate the connection between work, potential energy, kinetic energy, and heat. In this physics lesson plan, students use pulleys to produce mechanical advantages and incline planes to demonstrate energy conversion.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Kinetics Challenge Problem

For Students Higher Ed
In this kinetics worksheet, students use date from two experiments to determine the reaction order, calculate the rate constant and activation energy, and predict the mechanism for the reaction. This worksheet has 7 problems to solve.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Unit

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students define thermal equilibrium. They distinguish between internal energy and heat. Students describe how the quantity of heat that enters or leaves a substance is measured.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Pitch and Frequency

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students experiment with a vibrating ruler and a kazoo to study the different pitches and frequencies they produce. They create both high and low pitch sound waves. They examine how engineers use sound energy when designing electronic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Kit Lesson #1 Solar Cell Inquiry

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Students use a selection of solar panels, lamps, motors, and an AA battery to get as many motors or lights to operate as they can in an allotted time period. For each successful arrangement, they draw a diagram of their setup, label the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Falling Water

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. In seeing how falling water can...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modern Physics, The Quantum

For Teachers 11th - 12th
In this physics worksheet, students examine the relationship between the discrete and continuous spectrum alongside other concepts for the 9 questions.
Activity
International Technology Education Association

Launch a Frisbee into Orbit!

For Students 6th - 12th
How fun it must be to play Frisbee in space! That is just what a NASA engineer gets to do, and you can learn how, too. Follow the instructions provided in this informational article to create your own satellite launcher. Afterward,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy/Light/Heat/Sound

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study the properties of heat in this series of lessons. They discuss sources of heat and experiment to determine its properties. They identify insulators and conductors by measuring temperatures, and graphing their data....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transforming Energy

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders study about alternate energy sources and discuss with their neighbor how alternative energy sources affect environmental conditions so that an entire species could be affected.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students prove the validity of the Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem by analyzing the Car and Driver website which lists qualitative and quantitative data about an assigned car. They decide whether or not they would purchase the car based on...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transformation of Energy-8th Grade

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders examine how electricity is produced in relation to the atom as well as what causes electric current to flow and what determines how much current flows through a circuit. These and other concepts of transformation of energy...
Worksheet
T. Smith Publishing

Types of Energy Word Search

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
Intended for science instruction, this word search could be used to reinforce vocabulary. Class members find the following words: electrical, potential, heat, chemical, gravitational, kinetic, mechanical, nuclear, and radiant. While the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Improving the Building Envelope System

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain the different heat transfer mechanisms and how they influence the building envelope. They develop ways in which the building envelope can be improved and test hypotheses about building envelope designs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Envelope System: A Partial Solution

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Studnet identify examples of conduction, convection and radiation. They develop an example of a building envelope. They also describe how heat transfer mechanisms can affect home energy costs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Designing Windmills

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study mechanical engineering and how it plays a part in the creation of windmills. They design and test their own windmills using various materials and sail designs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dust in the Wind; Chemicals in the Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers explore mechanical and chemical weathering at stations. They articulate some mechanisms of chemical and mechanical weathering through exploration in a lab. Students stations describe how chemical weathering differs from...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Candy Reaction

For Teachers 6th - 9th
In this triboluminescence worksheet, students use wint-o-green Lifesavers to observe a chemical reaction that gives off light. They break a lifesaver up with a hammer and make observations and they chew a lifesaver and make observations....