How Hot Is It?

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 lesson in the 10-part series looks at how light energy from the sun transfers into thermal energy. Scholars build...

With Earth Day quickly approaching, as well as many science fairs, why not challenge your class to investigate geothermal energy or other renewable energy resources? There are five driving questions explored in depth here, as well as...

Middle school science stars observe and record data on the solar radiation reflected off or transmitted through various materials. They predict properties for various materials, and test their predictions by touch. This lesson plan...

Here is a fun little exploration of the potential energy potential of falling water. Learners drop water from various heights using a straw, and they analyze the diameter of the splash. Pair this with two more activities of the same...

Convection, conduction, and radiation are the three methods of heat transfer. Introduce them to your physical science students by showing this video. The emcee shows where each of these play a role in his kitchen and explains a bit about...

Students collect data about energy usage and use mathematical calculations to analyze their data. In this energy conservation and statistics math instructional activity, students survey their homes to complete an energy usage worksheet....

Energy has many forms ... but very few sources! How do we present this to young scientists? Explore the Definitions of Energy, PS3A, in a video about the Next Generation Science Standards. The narrator keeps it simple by relating...

Another fantastic instructional activity on energy is presented by the American Coal Foundation. This one focuses on electricity; how it is produced, how it is delivered, and how it is used. Some excellent handouts are embedded in this...

Pairs simulate the energy usage of different countries by drawing beads from a bag, which contain different beginning ratios of non-renewable and renewable energy resources. The activity concludes with a series of questions to tie...

Introduce your young meteorologists to black carbon produced by the burning of fossil fuels by showing the video, "Changing Planet: Black Carbon." Viewers discover that deposition of this carbon on polar ice impacts the absorption of...