Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Transfer of Energy 2: Electrochemistry

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students study about electrochemistry by increasing their understanding of electron transfer and its role in chemical changes. They explain that energy appears in different forms. Heat energy is in the disorderly motion of molecules.
Lesson Plan
American Physiological Society

Feeling the Heat

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How do the changing seasons affect the homes where we live? This question is at the forefront of engineering and design projects. Challenge your physical science class to step into the role of an architect to build a model home...
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Thermal Energy Flow in Materials

For Teachers 6th Standards
The sun sends the earth 35,000 times the amount of energy required by all of us on the entire planet, every day. The fourth lesson in the 10-part series looks at how light energy from the sun transfers into thermal energy. Scholars build...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Transfer of Energy 1: Thermochemistry

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Budding chemists achieve a basic understanding of the role of heat in chemical reactions. An online worksheet gives learners instructions and questions to answer as they investigate the Chem4Kids website and perform a hands-on lab...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Transfer of Energy 3: Rust and Corrosion

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students research the type of chemical reaction that occurs when metal rusts. They conduct an experiment looking at the rate of corrosion in steel wool. This is lesson three in a three lesson unit on the transfer of energy.
Lesson Plan
Rochester Institute of Technology

Heat Transfer

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Use an exciting role play activity to teach young chemists about the importance of heat transfer in maintaining homeostasis. They assume the role of a dog sled owner who has been abandoned and must fend for themselves with only a...
Lesson Plan
Center Science Education

Feeling the Heat

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What is an urban heat island? Middle school meteorologists find out by comparing temperatures at different locations on campus. They relate their findings to what might be happening in a concrete jungle and how it impacts local weather....
Worksheet
Curated OER

Typical Conceptual Questions for Physics I - Heat

For Students 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Absorption of Solar Energy

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Two sequential parts to this lesson introduce your class to the electromagnetic spectrum, the ability to absorb radiant energy, and the pigments in leaves that are responsible for collecting sunlight to be used in the photosynthetic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transfer of Thermal Energy

For Teachers 10th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Heat Transfer and Heat Capacity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
It's time to increase the heat! Young chemists demonstrate heat transfer and heat capacity in an activity-packed lab, showing the transitions between solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of materials. Individuals plot data as the...
Activity
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NOAA

The Climate Team: Make a Solar Heat Engine

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Learners investigate how solar energy is converted into heat in part two of the 10-part Discover Your Changing World series. They build and test homemade solar cookers to boil water and cook rice. Pupils consider the impact of heat...
Lesson Plan
Captain Planet Foundation

Solar Cooking Race

For Teachers 3rd
Study heat transfer with activities that focus on how heat energy works. Using a solar cooker, ice cubes, and heat transfer bracelets, kids experiment and record what they find by keeping ice cubes cold and vegetables hot.
Interactive3:46
Scholastic

Study Jams! Heat

For Students 4th - 9th
Raise the temperature in your class with this hot film! Cartoon teens discuss thermal energy, the conservation and transfer of energy, three methods of heat transfer, conductors, and insulators. The publisher effectively packed every...
Interactive
PHET

Energy Forms and Changes

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Is the ice cooling down the water or is the water melting the ice? Here is a simulation that explores thermal energy transfer with iron, brick, and water. It demonstrates the flow of energy and what happens when each material is either...
Lesson Plan
Rochester Institute of Technology

Solar Energy

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Warm up to the idea of solar energy. A lesson includes three activities that challenge scholars to apply knowledge in new ways. First, they learn to run an alarm clock without a battery by using solar energy. Next, they complete an...
Lesson Plan
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American Chemical Society

Heat, Temperature, and Conduction

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How does heat move from one item to another, even when the items are in different states of matter? Pupils experiment with adding washers to hot water and adding hot washers to room temperature water to observe the heat transfer. 
Lesson Plan
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Science 4 Inquiry

Investigating How Heat Flows

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It is impossible to cool down a glass of water by adding ice. Young scientists explore heat transfer through videos, experiments, and interactive games. They quickly catch on that the water melts the ice and things aren't always as they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Melting the Ice: Energy Transfer

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students study thermal energy and energy transfer to sea ice processes. For this energy transfer lesson, students make their own ice cream and discuss energy transfer and thermal energy. Students view a radiation overhead and its role in...
Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Energy Forms, States and Conversions

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Even magicians can't make energy disappear. In a discussion-based lesson, young scientists learn about energy forms and conversions. They see how energy is neither created nor destroyed; it just changes forms. This is the 11th...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat, Temperature, and Transfer

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Physical science scholars discover an array of heat sources. They experiment to connect radiation to heat. They begin to understand thermal equilibrium. Then, they test to see if mass affects the rate of temperature change. Choose a few,...
PPT
Curated OER

What is Energy? Different Kinds of Energy

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Introduce physical science learners to the forms of energy using this PowerPoint. The concluding slides present scenarios for discussing the transfer of energy from one form to another. Informative text is crisp and attractive, but the...
Lesson Plan
US Department of Energy

Geothermal Energy

For Teachers 5th - 8th
With Earth Day quickly approaching, as well as many science fairs, why not challenge your class to investigate geothermal energy or other renewable energy resources? There are five driving questions explored in depth here, as well as...
Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Molar Heat of Fusion for Water

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How can you describe heat of fusion in a way the class understands and relates the importance of this concept to present day issues? In this third lesson of the series, learners conduct an experiment, demonstrating the flow of heat...