Observing Latent Heat With a Portable Hand Warmer

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. 

Step-by-step instructions are given for two hands-on activities. Young scientists cut out a paper spiral and hold it over a hot plate to demonstrate convection, and they place a small piece of wax on the end of a metal rod opposite the...

It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...

Oceans absorb half of the carbon dioxide and 80 percent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Scholars learn how and why the oceans store heat more effectively than land and how they help mitigate global warming. Pupils...

It's time to increase the heat! Young chemists demonstrate heat transfer and heat capacity in an activity-packed lab, showing the transitions between solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of materials. Individuals plot data as the changes...

How does fire keep itself going? Explore the ways that heat uses fuel and energy with a lesson about the fire triangle and combustion. Several activities demonstrate how heat moves from warmer objects to cooler objects, as well as the...

How do animals adapt to weather changes? Provide your class with the ability to understand adaptations and body temperature as they participate in this hands on experiment, using fake fur and hot water. Pupils collect data and analyze...

Learn about conduction, convection, and radiation with an illustrative presentation. It includes slides about atmospheric movement and how it affects the climate, solar radiation, and how latent heat can form storms. 

What happens inside a melting solid? Prospective physical chemists observe a solid-to-liquid phase change at the molecular level using an inspired interactive. Pupils add heat to a close system, then monitor changes in kinetic and...

There's more to melting than meets the eye! Junior physical chemists investigate the differences between specific and latent heats as a substance undergoes a phase change. Users remove heat from the system and observe changes in kinetic...