Curated OER
Heat and Electrical Resistance
Students discover electrical resistance and how it is directly related to thermal energy through a hands-on activity. Working in groups, they wrap a wire around a thermometer and the positive and negative poles of a D cell battery and...
Curated OER
Considerations in Heating a Home
Emerging engineers discover how important it is to conserve energy as fossil fuel supplies are being diminished. This is accomplished by working through a handout that explains energy requirements for heating a home during the winter....
Curated OER
Insulators, Conductors, and Energy Transfer
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...
Curated OER
Thermodynamics
For this thermodynamics worksheet, students learn about insulators and conductors. Students compare the three ways thermal energy is transferred: conduction, convection, and radiation. This worksheet has 22 matching, 1 multiple choice, 3...
Curated OER
Typical Conceptual Questions for Physics I - Heat
This worksheet would make a nifty quiz on the laws of thermodynamics. Nine multiple choice questions assess high schoolers' understanding of energy transfer, specific heat capacity, phase change, fusion, and vaporization. It is short but...
Discovery Education
Cool It!
Adjust the melting time of ice without varying the temperature! Learners experiment with different materials to decide how the materials affect the rate an ice cube melts. They then connect their findings to the conductivity of each...
Curated OER
Typical Numeric Questions for Physics I - Heat
The laws of thermodynamics raise the temperature in your classroom when physics pupils complete this worksheet! They demonstrate their understanding by calculating specific heat capacity, final temperature, amount of work done, and more....
LABScI
Potential and Kinetic Energy: The Roller Coaster Lab
Ron Toomer, a famous roller coaster designer, suffered from motion sickness. Pupils design their own roller coasters, learning about potential and kinetic energy in the process. Labs focus on the importance of drop height, energy...
Curated OER
Keeping Warm
Students participate in an online activity to determine how objects heat and cool. They determine what objects best serve as thermal insulators.
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Thermodynamics
In this thermodynamics activity, students read about conduction, convection and radiation. They answer 47 questions about heat transfer, thermal equilibrium, insulators, conductors and the states of matter.
Curated OER
Capturing the Sun's Warmth
Students explore the variety of ways to use solar energy. They investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design. They explain how passive solar...
Curated OER
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.
Curated OER
Electricity and Thermodynamics Review
In this electricity and thermodynamics worksheet, students review the major concepts of both series circuits and parallel circuits, they review types of thermal transfer, they match electricity terms with their definitions, they fill in...
Polar Trec
Staying Warm in Antarctica!
Has your class ever wondered how animals and scientists stay warm in the Polar Regions? Kids will investigate to understand the three types of heat transfer and how heat transfer affects those trying to stay toasty in sub-zero...
Teach Engineering
Capturing the Sun's Warmth
Passive solar heating is a technology that's been in use for thousands of years. Here, elementary schoolers are exposed to this type of heating, the materials that are used in passive solar heating, and they study how engineers design...
Teach Engineering
The Amazing Aerogel
Introducing ... the aerogel. The first of a two-installment series teaches young engineers about the properties and uses of aerogels. A PowerPoint presentation provides information about this unique material to help solidify the concept.
Curated OER
Solar Power
Students discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They investigate the thermal properties of different materials. They evaluate the usefulness of each material.
Teach Engineering
How Hot is Hot?
Elementary schoolers identify the three methods of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. The lesson is mostly lecture-based. When the teacher has finished the presentation, groups of pupils get into teams and they must...
Curated OER
More on Conduction and Convection
Why do some items feel colder when they are the same temperature? How should you keep your soda cold? What makes the wind blow? These are just some of the things middle schoolers discover when completing a lesson on conduction and...
Curated OER
Electricity
The presentation begins with a circuit building activity and two data tables for young scientists to copy and complete. Full of clever animations, it will definitely spark student interest! However, the information is incoherent. You may...
Curated OER
Elementary Concepts in Heat
Third graders read a thermometer with accuracy, record observations and data, and infer conceptual meaning. They integrate mathematical charting and graphing skills to organize their data. They explore what happens when they touch or use...
Curated OER
Sports Helmets and Impact Testing of Polymers
Students examine the importance of good quality safety gear. In this investigative lesson, students will tests various polymers, collect data, and analyze the data to determine which polymer is best for safety helmets. They will design a...
Curated OER
Hypothermia: Temperature Changes Under Varying Conditions
Students conduct an experiment to determine what type of clothing would be most suitable for outdoor activities. They determine the temperature changes of the skin under various wet clothing materials and graph the temperature changes. ...