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Thermal Energy
Explore thermal energy with your class with this introductory presentation. While there is information about heat, conduction, temperature and other topics, further information could be added to make it a richer experience.
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Converting Energy
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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At Home: Keep a Cube Activity
Let cooler heads prevail. Future engineers first learn about heat transfer and insulation. They then design and build a contraption that will prevent an ice cube from melting for as long as possible.
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How Hot Is It?
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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Cooking with the Sun
Students explore using energy from the sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. This excellent two-day lesson has groups of students build and test a variety of solar cookers....
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Make Your Own Temperature Scale
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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Winter Insulation
Students test insulation materials. In this energy conservation lesson, students use different insulation materials to see which one holds heat the best. Students pour hot water into bottles, take the temperature, wait 15 minutes, then...
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Thermal Energy and Heat Unit
Students explain that heat energy in a material consists of the disordered motions of its atoms or molecules. They know and explain that transformations of energy usually transform some energy into the form of heat, which dissipates by...
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Stop Heat from Escaping
Students explore the uses of insulation and describe how insulation helps to conserve energy. They work in groups and use plastic, wool, paper and aluminum to experiment with the heat-retaining properties of various materials.
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Heat Discrepancies
Students answer the question, "Why do Eskimos build houses out of ice to keep warm. Since heat goes from hot to cold, don¿¿¿t the ice walls take away the warmth inside the house?" They explain how snow or ice can actually be insulators.
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TE Lesson: Using Heat from the Sun
Students examine fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable fuels. They study investigate types of heat transfer such as convection, conduction, and radiation. They complete crossword puzzles based on the vocabulary. They design, construct and...
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Three Little Pigs and Heat Transfer
Students use the Internet to research the ancient practices of building structures and to help them recognize what building materials serve as good conductors and insulators of heat. They build a structure using straw bale walls.
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Measuring Solar Energy
Students study solar energy and how to measure it. For this energy sources lesson students complete a lab, obtain data and use that to convert surface temperature to energy.
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Wasting Energy at Home
Students act as energy conservation engineers and identify the ways energy is conserved or wasted. They also discover many ways to personally conserve energy everyday. Students discover how engineers perform home energy audits to...
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Energy Activities
Students conduct a variety of experiments related to solar energy, heating, cooling, gravity, physical insulation and wind. They consider how the experiments relate to energy and the consumption of energy and then participate in a class...
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CONVERTING ENERGY
Students explore energy through the idea of energy transformations and conversions, and to develop students' ideas of what energy is and how it can be measured.
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Heat and Matter
Students explore liquids and solids by conducting in class experiments. In this matter instructional activity, students define the properties of matter and how heat can change those properties. Students experiment with heating objects...
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Sunlight and Warm Air
Students discuss radiant energy from the sun, performing a simple experiment with sun glasses and bright light to demonstrate the concept. Students further participate in simple in-class experiments to demonstrate: air density as it...
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Energy/Light/Heat/Sound
Fourth graders study the properties of heat in this series of lessons. They discuss sources of heat and experiment to determine its properties. They identify insulators and conductors by measuring temperatures, and graphing their data....
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Turning Up The Heat!
High schoolers investigate the properties of heat. They explore methods of temperature control and measurement. Through experimentation and activities, students design a high tech tree house. They consider electrical, solar, and natural...
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Transfer of Thermal Energy
In this thermal energy worksheet, students will explore different ways heat is transferred including conduction and convection. Students will look at how insulators work and how room temperature can affect heat transfer. This worksheet...
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Energy
Students distinguish between kinetic an potential energy. They recognize that energy is conserved when changing from one form to another. Students compare the scientific meaning of work with its everyday meaning.
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Methods of Heat Transfer
Eighth graders discuss the forms of heat transfer that relate to the human body. Discussion revolves around the ability of different designs of hats to change the rate of heat transfer to and from the body. Students then experiment...
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Energy Conservation
Third graders discuss four points related to conservation. They work in groups to design a package to keep an ice cube from melting to demonstrate the concept of insulation. They then make a chart that shows which materials used did the...