Young engineers are instructed to design and build their own solar water heaters. Then, they calculate the efficiency and cost and compare them to commercially available models. This is a full unit for pupils to apply their knowledge.

Don't melt away! Pairs investigate different insulation materials to determine which one is better than the others. Using a low-temp heat plate, the teams insulate an ice cube from the heat source with a variety of substances. They...

Learn about conduction, convection, and radiation with an illustrative presentation. It includes slides about atmospheric movement and how it affects the climate, solar radiation, and how latent heat can form storms. 

Students identify different climate regions and local weather patterns.  In this cloud coverage lesson students use NASA satellite data and import it into Excel. 

Convection is offered as the reason behind our weather phenomena. This presentation assumes that viewers are familiar with the methods of heat transfer, and is therefore more geared toward middle-school meteorologists. The focus is on...

This activity will lift spirits in your class, but there is little scientific explanation for what makes a hot air balloon rise. As you are teaching middle school scientists about density and convection, you can incorporate this...

The instructions for demonstrating ocean turnover are provided in this resource. You could set this up for your earth science class as part of a lecture on convection currents or as an explanation of how ocean currents form. An animation...

Questions that can be used in a lesson on Earth's radiation balance are suggested in this resource. It is not a lesson plan, per se, but it is a list of questions for stations within a "Gallery Walk" lesson. The link to how Gallery Walks...

Convection is thoroughly demonstrated using a model of Earth's mantle. Detailed background information is provided for the teacher, as well as a list of materials. Although a colorful and detailed worksheet is available for the class,...

Students explore objects before and after heating using their senses.  In this matter and energy lesson, students experiment with a variety of objects and use their senses (except taste) to make predictions and record observations...

In this weather vocabulary worksheet, students define 34 terms related to weather and climate. Terms include instruments used to measure temperature, pressure, wind and humidity as well as types of fronts, conduction, convection and...

In this history of heating worksheet, students read about the different ways of heating rooms over time. They answer three critical thinking questions about conduction, convection and heating.

Students compare the characteristics of a fired porcelain sculpture to the clay used to create it. They discuss the physical and chemical changes that occur in the clay as it is heated and then create their own clay sculpture. This...

Young scholars discuss convection currents in the Earth's mantle, how they form, and how they move as well as the causes of earthquakes. Working in a group, they analyze a color coded World Earthquake Map and try to determine which...

Students investigate the physics of heating and cooling through conduction, convection, and radiation. Working in groups, they determine the best way to cool a can of water and warm a can of water. Temperature is taken at five minute...

Students explore convection. In this lesson on heat and energy, students investigate how heat moves in convection currents. They use their finding to better understand how convection currents effect the movement of tectonic plates.

Learners reinforce their knowledge of plate tectonics from what they have already learned on the subject. In this science lesson, students watch a small clip from the movie "Ice Age" which engages the learners to participate throughout...

Students examine the movement of plate tectonics. In this lesson on the spreading of the seafloor, students use maps and models to observe how the sea floor spreads.

Students explore solar power. In this solar power lesson, students build simple solar cookers after they study convection, conduction, and radiation. Students transfer their knowledge of how the solar cooker works to climate changes on...

In this heat transfer learning exercise, learners answer one true or false question about heat and three multiple choice questions about heat transfer including conduction, convection and radiation.

In this heat transfer worksheet, students are given five diagrams of the various types of heat transfer to identify. These include conduction, convection and radiation.

Learners watch a demonstration using a plastic bag and a hair dryer to create a hot air balloon. After the demonstration, they discuss the results and whether or not hot water behaves the in the same manner as hot air. They conduct...

Students participate in a variety of experiments designed to illustrate types of heat transfer including conduction, convection and radiation. They complete worksheets as an assessment of the experiments.

Students learn how cold and warm water behave in the marine environment due to convection currents. Students also conduct an experiment to demonstrate the formation of a convection current.