How does heat move from one item to another, even when the items are in different states of matter? Pupils experiment with adding washers to hot water and adding hot washers to room temperature water to observe the heat transfer. 

Concepts

heat, temperature, conduction, heat energy, atoms, molecules, kinetic energy, heat transfer

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• If time allows, perform an experiment to see which comes to room temperature faster: a cup of boiling water when you add one ounce of ice or a cup of warm water when you add one ounce of cool water

Classroom Considerations

• Follow all safety precautions with hot water and hot metal
• Requires prior knowledge of atoms and molecules and their general behaviors in various states of matter
• Lesson is the first in a five-part series

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Pros

• Written in a 5E format
• Uses multiple forms of learning, including hands-on, visual, and auditory
• Extension answers a common confusion for students: How can a metal chair and a piece of cardboard feel like different temperatures when they are really the same?

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.3 RST.6-8.4 RST.6-8.7 WHST.6-8.1.a WHST.6-8.1.b WHST.6-8.1.c WHST.6-8.1.d WHST.6-8.1.e