Curated OER
"Heat Transfer and Ice Cream!"
Learners analyze earth science by creating a frozen treat in class. For this heat transfer lesson, students discuss how matter is transformed from solid to liquid and liquid to gas when energy is removed from the equation. Learners...
Curated OER
Weather and Oceans: Uneven Heating of the Earth
Learners investigate what causes the heat on Earth. In this Earth heating instructional activity, students experiment with different heat sources and determine where the Earth gathers the most heat. Learners explore...
Curated OER
Biomass: The Energy of the Future
Students research renewable fuels. In this alternative energy lesson plan, students compile information and create a comparison chart on renewable resources. This lesson plan includes additional suggested readings, vocabulary, and a...
Curated OER
Star Power! Discovering the Power of Sunlight
Students estimate the energy output of the sun. They estimate how much power sunlight the sunlight provides to the earth. They build a simple device to measure the amount of solar radiation the earth receives from the sun.
Curated OER
Cooking with the Sun!
Students access prior knowledge of solar energy and understand that solar energy produces heat. In this solar cooker instructional activity, students complete grade appropriate experiments using the heat of the sun. Students complete a...
Curated OER
Warming by Freezing
Ninth graders discover the reasoning behind spraying water on fruit and seedlings in preparation for hard freezes. In this conceptual physics lesson, 9th graders conduct an experiment to measure the heat released when water goes from a...
Curated OER
Solar Cooking
Students experiment with a virtual solar cooker to discover the mathematical relationship among reflection, transmission and absorption. Then they actually build and test a solar cooker of their own invention.
Curated OER
IPC Physics Vocabulary Review
In this physics review worksheet, students review vocabulary words associated with speed, acceleration, Newton's Laws and simple machines, work and energy, magnetism, electricity, and harmonic motion and light. This worksheet has 92...
Curated OER
A Day In My Life
Students brainstorm how they can conserve energy in their daily lives. In this energy lesson plan, students discuss how they use energy and ways to conserve it.
Curated OER
Can You See the Light?
Learners investigate the transmission of light energy. In this light energy lesson, students observe bubbles using different colored filters and record their observations. They also look at a light source through various materials and...
Curated OER
What is the Best Insulator: Air, Styrofoam, Foil, or Cotton?
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...
Curated OER
Potato Power
Students light a LED clock or light bulb using potatoes. They examine how a battery works in a simple circuit. They determine how chemical energy changes to electrical energy while experimenting with potato powered circuits.
Curated OER
Kinetics Review Sheet
In this kinetics worksheet, students define 7 terms related to the energy of reactions, they find the average reaction rate in a reaction, they sketch an energy diagram for an endothermic reaction and they compare exothermic and...
Curated OER
Measuring Calories
Young scholars investigate what a calorie is and how and why we measure them. They conduct an experiment to compare the calories of a peanut and a mini-marshmallow, and explain and discuss how calories are directly related to the amount...
Curated OER
Things That Glow: From Fireflies to Quantum Dots
Third graders observe light energy. For this heat and energy lesson, 3rd graders will study the concept of light as a form of energy. Students will examine the different forms of light and the type of energy it produces.
Curated OER
Cost Effective Buying
Students complete a worksheet that asks them to calculate the true energy cost of various appliances. They compare appliances with energy saving features, rebates and other economical incentives.
Curated OER
Heating
Students develop the idea that heat is a form of energy which moves from hot objects to cold ones.
Curated OER
Harnessing Solar Energy
Students identify the properties of light from the sun. In groups, they participate in experiments with solar collectors, cookers and calculators to determine which one harnesses the most energy. They record their observations and...
Curated OER
Solar Energy
Students investigate solar energy. They explore ways that energy from the sun can be turned into energy that humans can use in our everyday lives. In various experiments, they explore the effect of clouds and dust on photovoltaic energy...
Colorado State University
How Can Clouds Keep the Air Warmer?
Condensing water warms the air around it. Young scholars consider this concept as they experiment with air temperature around evaporating and condensing water vapor. They simulate the formation of clouds to experience the associated...
Discovery Education
It's Getting Hot in Here
Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...
Discovery Education
It's Melting!
It's a race to the finish! Which ice cube will melt the fastest? Scholars discover the effect thermal energy has on melting ice. They experiment with melting ice cubes on different materials and learn that even at a consistent...
Colorado State University
How Do Long and Short EM Waves Interact with the Earth's Atmosphere?
Things are about to heat up in your classroom! A kinesthetic lesson asks learners to play the part of the gases in the earth's atmosphere and interact with the sun's radiation. The focus is to learn the impact of the increasing...
Space Awareness
Climate Zones
The climate at the equator is hotter than the climate at the poles, but why? The lesson goes in depth, explaining how the angles of illumination relate to the heating rate at different latitudes and seasons. Scholars use a strong lamp,...