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...

The amount of energy Americans use doubles every 20 years. The first lesson in a 10-part series teaches scholars about different forms of energy. They rotate through five stations with hands-on activities or experiments at each in order...

Are the earth's oceans really just giant batteries, waiting for their energy to be harnessed? Middle school mechanical engineers will be shocked by the amazing amount of energy that forms around them after diving into part four of a...

Students engage in three short, hands-on, in-class demos which expand students' understand of energy. First, using peanuts and heat, students see how the human body burns food to make energy. Then, they create paper snake mobiles to...

Nuclear power provides about 20 percent of the energy generated in the United States. The seventh activity in the series of 12 tackles nuclear power. After sharing what they know about nuclear energy, scholars complete a...

What did the windmill say about renewable energy? I'm a BIG fan! Lesson three in the series of 12 has classes discuss potential and kinetic energy and then, in pairs, they complete a web quest over the different types of energy...

Model the transfer of energy during a typical 24-hour period. Young scholars use a game-like approach to learning the patterns of heat transfer through the day and night. Groups of four exchange different tokens as the energy...

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...

Identify how solar energy generates thermal energy by constructing solar cookers with your students. They will evaluate the factors that affect efficiency and the lesson can be adapted to capture data in a variety of ways.

Different types of energy are the focus of this science resource. Learners identify situations in which kinetic and potential energy are exchanged. They conduct an in-class inquiry which leads them to discover that there is a limit to...

Take a peek inside a window to heat efficiency. Scholars watch a demonstration to investigate how heat dissipates from several different cups of hot water. Scholars then relate the exchange to how heat escapes from the windows of a...

This simple activity is ideal for upper elementary learners when studying physical science. Using their sense of touch to describe how hot something feels, and then comparing their observations to thermometer measurements, they discover...

Students explore the rate at which ice melts. In this science lesson, students place ice cubes on colored index cards and place them in direct sunlight. Students observe which ice cubes melt fastest and slowest.

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...

Students experiment with converting fuels to energy. They also must identify different types of fuels and ways to conserve energy.

Students study solar energy and how to measure it.  In this energy sources lesson students complete a lab, obtain data and use that to convert surface temperature to energy. 

What is reflectivity, and what does it have to do with the Earth's climate? As reflectivity is measured by albedo, scientists can gather information on Earth's energy balances that relate to global warming or climate change. Budding...

Upper elementary scientists test basketballs with differing amounts of air to find if inflation affects bounce height. The lesson introduction poses the question of whether or not the composition of a ball determines bounce height, but...

The Mars Global Surveyor spent two years creating a mineral map of the planet Mars using thermal emission spectrometry. To help young astronomers understand this remote sensing instrument, have them simulate how data is collected and...

Searching for a way to integrate multiple concepts of energy conversion while captivating a middle school audience? This lesson presents topics related to potential and kinetic energy and offers the ability to allow...

Fifth graders are introduced to the concept of electric currents. In groups, they develop their own game board to test different circuits to determine if they are complete. They record their observations of the energy transfer between...

Students examine how to convert sunlight to electricity.  In this renewable energy sources instructional activity students explain how solar cells are used and use a voltmeter to measure the energy produced by a solar panel.

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...

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...