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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat and Conduction

For Teachers 4th - 6th
This simple activity is ideal for upper elementary learners when studying physical science. Using their sense of touch to describe how hot something feels, and then comparing their observations to thermometer measurements, they discover...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Transformation with a Top

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine both potential and kinetic energy. After discussing the difference and examples of potential and kinetic energy, they participate in a game of "Show Me Potential Energy/Show Me Kinetic Energy" using toy tops.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Transformation with Balance Toys

For Teachers K
Students explore and identify the concepts of potential and kinetic energy. They define kinetic and potential energy and discuss examples of each. Students then play a game involving balance toys, demonstrating both kinetic and potential...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Energy- Temperature

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders investigate the meaning of temperature. They determine what happens to a thermometer when the temperature rises or falls. They place thermometers in different classroom locations in order to compare the temperature in a...
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Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Hot Wire S’mores

For Teachers 4th Standards
The proof is in the marshmallows. Believing that electric energy can transform into heat energy can be abstract, but a hands-on lesson gives pupils a concrete example. Young scientists cut marshmallows with copper wires before and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Converting Energy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the concepts of energy transformation and conversion. They engage in Internet and hands-on activities. Students visit the Atoms Family Website and complete a Building a Better Pyramid activity by adding insulation to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

BioFuels: The Chemistry and Economics of Alternative Fuels

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Junior chemists manufacture biodiesel in the lab. In this exercise, they check the purity of the biodiesel using thin layer chromatography. They also calculate its density and heat of combustion. They are sure to rise to the challenge...
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Activity
It's About Time

Exploring Energy Resource Concepts

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Please turn off the lights to conserve energy. Or not, after all energy is always conserved. This first lesson in an eight-part series includes three parts. Part A contains one hands-on activity and two inquiry-based experiments on heat...
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Light vs. Heat Bulbs

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Careful, that light bulb is hot! Compare heat and light energy using a simple light bulb. The exercise addresses energy conservation and presents actual calculations to determine the most cost-effective light bulb.
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Activity
US Department of Energy

Solar Cooking

For Teachers 4th - 7th Standards
Who needs a barbecue grill to cook hot dogs when you have the amazing power of the sun at your disposal? Engage young scientists in learning about solar energy with this fun activity that turns a used Pringles can into a solar powered...
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Lab Resource
Colorado State University

What Is Energy?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Don't let the energy of your classroom falter! Explore the scientific definition of energy through play. A hands-on lesson focuses on the change of energy from one form to another.
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Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Matter on the Move

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Start this mini unit on matter out by demonstrating how food coloring behaves when placed in cold and in hot water. Then have the class experiment with warm water and soap film. Pupils will learn that an increase in thermal energy also...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy and Control

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders construct a lunch box that maintains functional temperature zones and does not allow heat transfer between the zones. They examine the transfer of heat, the capacity of certain materials to hold heat, and how the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Transformations

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students investigate energy transformation in the form of wind energy. They read a handout, answer questions, identify points in an energy system where transformations occur, and build a wind turbine.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Conservation

For Teachers 8th - 9th
Students discuss the different uses of energy. They examine the consumption percentages to do household tasks. They discover ways to reduce their energy consumption.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When Things Start Heating Up

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore how and why heat is produced from things that give off light, from machines, or when one thing is rubbed against another. They participate in several hands-on activities designed to help them realize that heat is related...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why is it so hot when I sit next to the window?

For Teachers K - 5th
Students investigate how energy travels through glass. In this energy usage lesson, students conduct an experiment in which they decide if window film affects how much energy travels through the glass. Students use a journal to make...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chemistry Lab-Heat of Fusion

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students determine the heat of fusion of ice. In this heat of fusion lesson plan, students use a calorimeter to measure the molar heat of fusion of ice. Students determine the heat required to melt one mole of ice using hot water and ice...
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Unit Plan
Next Generation Science Storylines

Why Do Some Things Get Colder (or Hotter) When They React?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Some reactions absorb heat while others release it. Young scholars investigate both types of reactions in a 12-lesson unit. Each lesson presents a lab investigation that monitors temperature and considers the types of reactions taking...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Hot Is It?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities with your class by investigating the difference between temperature, thermal energy and the heat capacity of different materials.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Planet: Black Carbon - a Dusty Situation

For Teachers 6th - 9th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar Kit Lesson #7 - Positioning Solar Panels I: Explorations with Tracking

For Teachers 6th - 9th
In this first part of a two-part lesson, learners track and record the sun's azimuth using a solar panel. They graph and analyze the data to identify relationships among the time of day, the altitude and azimuth of the sun, and the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make Your Own Temperature Scale

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Differentiate between temperature and thermal energy. Your class will build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. Discuss with your class and consider why engineers need to understand...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Insulators

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars design and carry out an investigation to test which materials is the best insulator: they predict which way heat energy flows in a system and analyze the flow of energy in a system from one point to another and from one...

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