Curated OER
Specific Heat Capacity of a Metal
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...
Curated OER
It's All In The Surface: The Effects Of Color & Texture On The Ability Of A Surface To Absorb Solar Energy
Ninth graders examine how dark surfaces absorb more light than light surfaces. They perform an experiment that compares various surfaces abilities to absorb heat, then record and analyze the results.
Curated OER
The Heat is On
Third graders experiment with heat through investigations. They rub objects together and compare the relative differences in the amount of heat given off. They write in their journals about the results they find.
Curated OER
Energy in the Form of Calories
Young scholars calculate the amount of food calories found in an individual peanut. In small groups, they set up the experiment so that a burning peanut will heat water above it. Using the temperature change and volume of the water they...
Curated OER
What Stores Solar Energy Best?
Students discuss reasons and methods for keeping a home warm in winter and cool in summer as examples of energy storage. Students participate in a solar energy experiment.
Curated OER
Carbon Dioxide: The Heat is On
Students examine the greenhouse gases affecting the atmosphere. In groups, they participate in activities in which they examine the effects of heat on the atmosphere and phytoplankton. They research how the phytoplankton differ in warm...
Curated OER
How the Amount of Solar Energy Absorbed by the Earth is Dependent Upon the Earth's Position
Students investigate the angle of light and how it faces the earth. They conduct a series of investigations with the following two objectives. Students determine if the angle of light is a factor in the absorption of heat. They correlate...
Curated OER
Which Colors Absorb the Most Energy?
Students measure the temperatures over time of different colored envelopes in order to explore the different rates at which each color absorbs energy from a heat lamp. They record their data and graph their results.
NOAA
I Didn’t Do It…Did I?: Make Your Own Greenhouse Effect
How do greenhouse gases affect the climate on Earth? Pupils explore the concept by first building their own apparatuses to model the greenhouse effect. Then, they record data to measure temperature change and determine...
Forest Foundation
Fire - How Does it Relate to You?
Forest fires can be a necessary step in keeping a forest healthy, but what happens when they get out of control? Learners investigate the causes and effects of forest fires in two specific areas, culminating in a report about the ways...
Re Energy
Build Your Own Biogas Generator
What is biogas and how is it made? After examining background information about the sources of biogas and biogas generators, class members follow the provided information and build a biogas generator that can be used in the...
Bonneville
Compost Bioreactor Design
Organic waste is a hot topic. The second of three installments in the Bioreactor Water Heating unit challenges pupils to create bioreactors that collect energy released from compost. After watching videos on the properties of water and...
Colorado State University
What Makes a Gas, a Greenhouse Gas?—The Carbon Dioxide Dance
Investigate a heated topic in environmental science. Scholars team up to play the parts of gas molecules in the atmosphere. As the teacher moves about, acting as the electromagnetic wave, learners react as their molecules would to the...
NASA
Climate Change Inquiry Lab
With global temperatures on the rise faster than ever recorded, the effects of a heating planet could be devastating. Allow learners to discover just what the world is in store for if the warming continues through a series of videos, a...
Chemistry Collective
Virtual Lab: Coffee Problem
Would you like milk with that? Young scientists consider thermal energy transfer to create the perfect cup of coffee. They calculate the amount of milk needed to reach a specified temperature and then test their calculations using a...
National Science Teacher Association
Middle School Sampler: Science
Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis...
Curated OER
Hot Chocolate Lab
Students wear goggles and collect materials and then set up computer program to use the temperature probes. They insert the probe into the milk recording temperature every 30 seconds and then record the data on the table.
Curated OER
What's Cooking
Students complete a solar radiation activity. In this solar radiation instructional activity, students complete an experiment to learn about solar radiation. Students make solar tea by using the energy of the Sun to brew tea.
Curated OER
Survival Still
Students explain how to desalinate water using solar energy. In this solar lesson students complete a lab activity and explain capillary water.
Curated OER
Science: Hurricanes As Heat Engines
Learners conduct Internet research to track the path of Hurricane Rita. They record the sea surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico during and after the hurricane and draw conclusions about how hurricanes extract heat energy from the...
Curated OER
All The News
Students simulate newspaper critics in the topics of heat and temperature. They write a scientific critique of evidence and claims used in a newspaper article and research using KIE software. They write notes on the letter to the editor...
Curated OER
Go With the Flow!
Students experiment with heat transfer in a countercurrent system and describe the importance of conduction in heat-energy transfer.
Curated OER
Evaporation Introductory Lesson
Fourth graders examine the concepts of evaporation and the water cycle. They describe the relationship between heat energy, evaporation and condensation of water on Earth and identify the sun as the source of energy that evaporates...
Curated OER
Science Experiment: Take a Rainbow's Temperature
In this science experiment worksheet, students gather materials and perform an investigation using thermometers and prisms. Students are asked if red is hotter than blue. They answer 6 questions.