Science Matters
Thermal Energy Flow in Materials
The sun sends the earth 35,000 times the amount of energy required by all of us on the entire planet, every day. The fourth instructional activity in the 10-part series looks at how light energy from the sun transfers into thermal...
PBS
Thermal Energy 101: Heat Transfer | UNC-TV Science
Discover what makes a cup of tea feel hot one minute and cold the next. Young physicists learn about thermal energy, why substances feel hot or cold, and the three means of thermal energy transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation...
PHET
Energy Forms and Changes
Is the ice cooling down the water or is the water melting the ice? Here is a simulation that explores thermal energy transfer with iron, brick, and water. It demonstrates the flow of energy and what happens when each material is either...
Curated OER
Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. In this energy transfer instructional activity, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead...
Curated OER
Energy
Wow! Colorful and simple, these 160 slides introduce the various forms of energy, along with a relevant image. Some of the images are animations, which help beginning physical scientists to visualize the flow of electrons or energy! This...
Virginia Department of Education
Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer
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 evaporation while...
Curated OER
Heat, Temperature, and Transfer
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,...
PHET
Energy Skate Park: Basics
Keep calm and half pipe. An exciting simulation teaches pupils about energy transfer from potential to kinetic and thermal as a skater moves through a half pipe or other track. After a brief introduction, scholars can build their own...
Curated OER
Temperature and Thermal Energy
Examine how heat can be transferred between systems by reconstructing a diagram on energy flow and solving problems on heat flow and work done.
Curated OER
Transferring Thermal Energy
Multiple examples of heat transfer through different materials are shown. The information will reinforce concepts of particle energy change and movement at a early, secondary level.
Curated OER
Energy Transformation Worksheet
Upper elementary or middle school scientists determine what types of energy are involved in six different pictures. Then they produce examples of three different energy transformations. This worksheet has colorful graphics and is neatly...
Science Matters
Energy Transfer and Transformation
When you take a simple task and create an exceptionally difficult way to complete it, it is known as a Rube Goldberg machine. These machines are filled with many types of energy transfers and energy transformations. Here, pupils watch...
Curated OER
Thermal Energy: Temperature and Heat
Matter and the energy held by molecules is explained here. The information provided about the transfer of energy between substances and the resulting temperature change will be useful to your students. They will be able to work through...
Curated OER
Energy Transfer in Musical Instruments
Young scholars create unique sounds using different instruments. In this energy lesson, students read and define several vocabulary terms such as heat, energy transfer and thermal equilibrium. Young scholars utilize several household...
Curated OER
Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction to Energy Transfer and Transformation
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...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Heat
Raise the temperature in your class with this hot film! Cartoon teens discuss thermal energy, the conservation and transfer of energy, three methods of heat transfer, conductors, and insulators. The publisher effectively packed every...
Cornell University
Energy Changes in Chemical Reactions
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...
Scholastic
Study Jams! Energy & Matter
After Sam knocks a glass off the lunchroom table, he uses it as a springboard for explaining kinetic and potential energy. He mentions that sound is a type of kinetic energy and introduces the different forms of energy: thermal,...
Curated OER
Heat and the Second Law of Thermodynamics
More than a week's worth of investigation is provided in this source. Physical science stars experiment to describe specific heat, conduction, convection, and radiation. They also discover the relationship between mechanical and thermal...
Exploratorium
Give and Take
Heat-sensitive liquid crystal sheets are available in a variety of sizes and temperature ranges. Purchase a class set of hand-held sheets and color half of each with a silver permanent marking pen. Learners of light can hold them under a...
Curated OER
Heat Transfer
Answer short answers and fill-in-the-blank questions after reading a briefing of how heat energy is transferred between objects. This straightforward activity can be useful as homework the evening before you do demonstrations of the...
Curated OER
Transfer of Thermal Energy
Students define temperature and heat, distinguish between temperature and heat flow, calculate amount of heat energy released or absorbed in chemical process, and design procedure, through experimentation, to gather and evaluate data to...
Curated OER
Typical Conceptual Questions for Physics I - Heat
This activity would make a nifty quiz on the laws of thermodynamics. Nine multiple choice questions assess high schoolers' understanding of energy transfer, specific heat capacity, phase change, fusion, and vaporization. It is short but...
PBS
Thermal Radiation: Heat Transfer | UNC-TV Science
What do people, campfires, and microwaves have in common? Investigators explore heat transfer by thermal radiation, discover the role of electromagnetic waves, and see examples of radiation while viewing a video. Scholars challenge their...