An educational lesson focuses on the idea of conservation of matter through a demonstration of the water cycle, a discussion of digesting food, and the path of carbon and oxygen atoms as they change form. 

Examine how heat can be transferred between systems by reconstructing a diagram on energy flow and solving problems on heat flow and work done.

Heat things up in your physical science class with this interactive lesson series on thermodynamics. Through a series of class demonstrations and experiments, young scientists learn how heat is transferred through conduction,...

Students examine heat transfer using energy efficient houses.  In this heat transfer lesson students calculate the heat that is transferred between a system and its surroundings.

If you can find Tinker Toys™, then this may be a fun assignment for your physical science class. Using the construction set and a few other toys, they examine the forces involved when it they are being played with. For each, they...

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...

Fifth graders explore energy transfer. In this thermal energy lesson, 5th graders stretch rubber bands several times and estimate the band's temperature change. Students identify this action as an example of thermal energy. Students...

Learners explore Earth science by completing energy worksheets in class. In this energy forms lesson, students identify and define a list of energy vocabulary terms and a K-W-L chart. Learners view a matter video clip in class and...

Ninth graders evaluate the energy associated with the production of five different forms of apple products. They develop a poster to advertise one of the five apple products to the class. Students provide additional examples of consumer...

Although written for middle schoolers, there is no reason that a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader could not also learn about food chains through the dissection of owl pellets. After you introduce the topic, learners complete an owl research...

Fifth graders are introduced to the concept of electric currents. In groups, they develop their own game board to test different circuits to determine if they are complete. They record their observations of the energy transfer between...

Third graders perform various experiments to show the flow of energy that causes heat. In this heat lesson, 3rd graders understand how heat is transferred or trapped. Students use the scientific method and critical thinking skills to...

This is actually a 10-day mini unit on thermal energy for your high school chemists. Every avenue is taken to get learners absorbed in heat: a pretest, a PowerPoint presentation, Internet exploration, demonstrations, lab activities, and...

Third graders conduct experiments to determine what types of material make good insulators. They prepare a graph of time vs. temperature for their sample. They choose a graph using each kind of material to display for class analysis and...

Students 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 form to...

Students explore the factors that affect how long coffee stays hot. They develop a question and a testable hypothesis for one factor such as initial temperature or size of opening of the container. Then they design and conduct an...

Tenth graders examine how energy is lost through different trophic levels.  In this trophism lesson students construct a food web and view a video. 

Students study different ways of using solar energy. They design a solar water heater and determine how much water it can heat in a set amount of time. They examine how the heaters work by solar radiation and convection.

Students investigate energy consumption by researching wattage.  In this electricity lesson, students discuss how electricity works and gets transferred to our electronic devices through generators and circuits.  Students...

Students investigate the properties of insulators by attempting to keep a cup of water from freezing, and once it is frozen, to keep it from melting. They conduct the experiment, record and analyze the results, and answer discussion...

Students experiment with heat transfer in a countercurrent system and describe the importance of conduction in heat-energy transfer.

Students investigate the properties of heated air. They make predictions about what they think makes the wind blow on a worksheet, and conduct two experiments to demonstrate the properties of heated air. Students heat a bottle until a...

Eleventh graders investigate the relationship between heat and energy transfer. They review terms including heat, work, calorimetry and the procedures for an experiment. After assembling the materials for the experiment, they observe...

Students apply their knowledge of friction, drag, mass and gravity as they design, build, and test mini-bobsleds.