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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

For Teachers 7th - 12th
More than a week's worth of investigation is provided in this source. Physical science stars experiment to describe specific heat, conduction, convection, and radiation. They also discover the relationship between mechanical and thermal...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy: The Universal Currency

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Science stars examine the concept of energy by thinking about everyday situations. The lesson plan is incohesive. It lists goals for the student, but doesn't address all of them in the content. The best use of this resource would simply...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Entropy

For Students 10th - Higher Ed
In this entropy learning exercise, students review the Second Law of Thermodynamics and explore how entropy changes. This learning exercise has 5 word problems.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pendulum Power

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study the Law of Conservation of Energy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. they create a pendulum out of either a rope with a bowling ball or barbell tied to one end.
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Handout
University of Toronto (Canada)

University of Toronto: Entropy

For Students 9th - 10th
A discussion of entropy that focuses on explaining entropy, how it applies to the second law of thermodynamics, and real-life observations of the existence of entropy.
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Handout
NASA

Glenn Research Center: Conservation of Energy

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Glenn Research Center at NASA, read about the law of conservation of energy. Included are formulas and many links to key terms.
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Bond Enthalpy and Enthalpy of Reaction

For Students 9th - 10th
Explanation of bond enthalpy that includes examples of calculating enthalpies of reaction using bond enthalpy.
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Gibbs Free Energy and Spontaneity

For Students 9th - 10th
Explanation of Gibbs Free Energy and Spontaneity. Includes formulas and examples.
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Unknown Type
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Thermodynamics: Conceptual Questions

For Students 11th - 12th
This is a list of 37 question that cover the major concepts presented in Chapter 15: Thermodynamics from the AP Physics online text.
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Unknown Type
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Thermodynamics: Problems and Exercises

For Students 11th - 12th
This is a list of 67 problems and exercises to solve based on the content presented in Chapter 15: Thermodynamics from the AP Physics online text.
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Heat Engine Concepts: The Otto Cycle

For Students 9th - 10th
Schematic diagrams illustrating the operation of a four-stroke engine cycle. Interactive buttons allow you to step through the various steps of each engine cycle. Each graphic is accompanied by an excellent explanation.
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Heat Engine Concepts: Carnot Cycle

For Students 9th - 10th
The Carnot cycle is described, illustrated and explained. The Carnot efficiency equation is given and interactive JavaScript form allows the visitor to investigate the effect of the reservoir temperature and the sink temperature upon the...
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Law Concepts

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from Georgia State University Department of Physics and Astronomy is an indexing page for the HyperPhysics site. The page links to a variety of other pages which discuss concepts related to entropy and the second law of...
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Heat Engine Cycle

For Students 9th - 10th
The heat engine cycle is defined and discussed. So pressure-volume diagrams are introduced and their use in depicting the cycles of a heat engine is demonstrated. Informative graphics are accompanied by reason-filled explanations.
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Graphic
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Heat Engine Concepts

For Students 9th - 10th
An indexing page for the HyperPhysics site. The page contains a concept map of links to a variety of other pages which discuss concepts related to heat engines. All pages contain informative graphics and excellent explanations.
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Website
University of Waterloo (Canada)

University of Waterloo: Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius

For Students 9th - 10th
Lists the most important publications of Rudolf Clausius. Provides some biographical details. Part of a set of History of Thermodynamics course notes.
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Activity
Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments: The Science of Racing: How Much Energy From Aa Batteries

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Work output from any process comes at a price. That price is the energy input required to drive the process. A fact of reality (also called the Second Law of Thermodynamics) is that the input energy is always greater than the output...
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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: The Laws of Thermodynamics

For Students 9th - 10th
A Wikipedia article summarizing each of the laws of thermodynamics. Links are provided throughout the article for additional information.
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Handout
Estrella Mountain Community College

Estrella Mountain: Laws of Thermodynamics

For Students 9th - 10th
Estrella Mountain Community College provides excellent introductory information on the laws of thermodynamics. Has some learning objectives outlined at the end of the page.
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Handout
Simon Fraser University

Chem1 Virtual Textbook: Heat and Work

For Students 9th - 10th
With an overview of topics related to chemical energetics, this resource provides a foundation to a study of the second Law of Thermodynamics emphasizing the transformation in energy involved in work.
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Interactive
Concord Consortium

Concord Consortium: Molecular Workbench: Loschmidt's Paradox

For Students 9th - 10th
Use this simulation to observe how Loschmidt's Paradox affects the entropy of an isolated system.
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Heat Pump

For Students 9th - 10th
Heat flow from a hot region to a cold region is described and explained. Applications of this phenomenon (specifically heat pumps and refrigerators) are discussed. Excellent graphics.
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Handout
Georgia State University

Georgia State University: Hyper Physics: Entropy

For Students 9th - 10th
This informative site is from Georgia State University. The tendency of nature to move towards a more disordered state in an isolated system, a concept known as entropy, is discussed. This concept is well-depicted in meaningful diagrams.
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Website
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: About Temperature

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University Corporation of Atmospheric Research provides a lengthy page covering numerous topics including the difference between heat and temperature, the use of different temperature scales, thermal expansion, how a...