Heat-sensitive liquid crystal sheets are available in a variety of sizes and temperature ranges. Purchase a class set of hand-held sheets and color half of each with a silver permanent marking pen. Learners of light can hold them under a...

Amateurs of alternative energy build a mini parabolic-trough solar energy collector and use it to heat water. Temperature is recorded over a three-minute period and the data is graphed and analyzed. Note that in order to paint aquarium...

Learners identify different kinds of energy such as heat energy, kinetic energy, potential energy, and magnetic energy. They investigate the concept of conservation of energy.

Students use the Internet to research the ancient practices of building structures and to help them recognize what building materials serve as good conductors and insulators of heat. They build a structure using straw bale walls.

Students investigate refraction and reflection of light. In this light lesson, students perform 3 activities to observe light interacting with matter by using a flashlight. They explore refraction using a glass of water and reflection...

Students use cardboard and aluminum foil to construct a solar oven that concentrates enough sunlight to cook a hotdog. They review the history and use of solar energy in relation to the Olympics.

Students are asked: Is our life's purpose over when it's over? What happens to our bodies? They analyze the flow of energy through living systems. Students compare the metabolism of autotrophs with that of heterotrophs. They create a...

Turn up the heat with these lesson plans! Class members have a chance to model molecules in different states of matter, observe demonstrations of different types of heat transfer, and perform an activity exploring heat transfer in lab...

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...

How is energy transferred within an ecosystem? What would happen to a food web if one of the organisms was removed? Elementary or middle school ecologists examine these questions and more in a comprehensive 5E learning cycle lesson....

Two versions of this handout are provided, the second with more detailed information on the same topics. Chemistry aces survey chemical reactions, heat energy transferred, and the action of enzymes by reading this resource. You can...

Help learners determine the rate of change for the temperature of sand. They will collect data on the temperature of wet and dry sand over time with a heat lamp overhead. Then make a scatter plot of the data and find a linear model to...

In this second lesson of the series, pupils learn to observe similarities and differences in photos of the sun and record them in a Venn diagram. Then, small groups practice the same skill on unique images before presenting their...

Students observe a demonstration presented by the teacher covering different types of energy. They participate in an experiment where they study numerous physics vocabulary words and visit websites that demonstrate examples of these...

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....

Students explore the many different food chains. They participate in a game in which the class is divided into the different parts of the food chain.

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...

Young scholars study plots and use a Live Access Server to generate plots.  In this temperature lesson students examine the process of incoming and outgoing radiation. 

Investigate bubbles through the use of scientific inquiry. Pupils blow bubbles using several methods and measure the resulting bubble print. Measurements are recorded on a data table and transferred to a bar graph. Results are discussed...

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 examine their understandings about energy concepts by completing an online survey. Students participate in a class discussion about their uses of resources and the differences between perpetual, renewable, and nonrenewable...

Heat up a lesson on solar energy. The first of three parts in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has scholars construct solar heaters. They then use them to heat up a container of water and calculate the amount of heat energy...

Always strive to make things better. The second of three activities in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has learners design new solar heaters that are more effective compared to the simple models they used in the previous lesson...

If changing one variable can improve a design, why not try changing more? Using the results from the previous activity, scholars decide on the variables that caused the most improvement in the effectiveness of the solar heater. They take...