Science Matters
Conductors and Insulators
Get that energy flowing while classes study conductors and insulators. Using a simple circuit, learners test different materials to determine the strength of conductivity. They use their results to classify materials as conductors or...
Mascil Project
House Insulation
Make sure your house is warm in the winter. Pupils analyze graphs of heating costs for two similar houses and make hypotheses for why the costs differ. They then build models of houses with appropriate insulation to reduce heating costs.
Curated OER
Conductors and Insulators
Fifth graders explore conductors and insulators. In this science lesson, 5th graders act as electrons moving through a wire. Students break into groups representing conductors and insulators and explore how they work with electrons.
Curated OER
Conductors and Insulators
In this conductors and insulators worksheet, students answer 11 questions about electrical resistance, conductance, gauge scale, and breakdown voltage.
Curated OER
Insulate Gate Field-Effect Transistors
In this electrical circuit worksheet, students draw a schematic design and build a circuit board to grasp the understanding of insulated gate field effect transistors before answering a series of 39 open-ended questions that include...
K12 Reader
Charge It!
Electrify your pupils' interest in conductors and insulators with a brief reading passage! After reading the text, learners respond to five questions that relate to the content of the passage.
Curated OER
Conductors and Insulators
Fifth graders investigate conductors and insulators by testing their hypotheses. They use copper wire and batteries to light a bulb. They use a penny and a plastic spoon to determine which is an insulator and which is a conductor.
Curated OER
Keeping Warm
There are five separate lessons about heat in this collection of slides. Young scientists learn how to use a thermometer to measure temperature, and they experiment with insulators. You can use one of these lessons each day for a full...
Curated OER
Electricity
Twenty-one slides cover all aspects of electricity; from electric charge, to protons, lightning, currents, the calculations for wire resistance, circuits, household devices, and fluorescence. The amount of detail and the range of topics...
Curated OER
Heat Energy - Energy Transfer
Here's a great selection of slides for a class being introduced to heat transfer. Types of materials that are good conductors or insulators are covered and the diagrams that accompany the information should make understanding more...
Curated OER
Which Material is Best for Muffling Sound?
Two professors, Big-Hair and Bee-Hive, cannot do their work because the alarm clock won't stop ringing! Young scientists perform an experiment to help them wrap the clock in the best material for muffling the sound. This is a clever...
Curated OER
Insulators, Conductors, and Energy Transfer
Third graders conduct experiments to determine what types of material make good insulators. They prepare a graph of time vs. temperature for their sample. They choose a graph using each kind of material to display for class analysis and...
Curated OER
Thermodynamics
In this thermodynamics worksheet, students learn about insulators and conductors. Students compare the three ways thermal energy is transferred: conduction, convection, and radiation. This worksheet has 22 matching, 1 multiple choice, 3...
Rice University
What Should You Wear In Antarctica?
Students weigh various battings and feathers. They make sure to have the same weight of each type of insulations. Students wrap one bottle of warm water in each of the two insulations. They measure the temperature of each bottle,...
Curated OER
Cool and Not-So-Cool Materials
Why do some materials feel cool to the touch, but not others? Learn about thermal conductors and thermal insulators with a fun science experiment. First, kids read the results of an experiment with spoons and hot water. They then try...
Curated OER
Keeping Warm
Students experiment with thermal insulators. In this heat transfer lesson, students predict and then measure heat loss from a cup of water using different materials as insulators. Students complete a line graph to display their results.
Curated OER
Heat Misconceptions
Third graders determine that gloves do not provide heat, but rather, they insulate or hold in any heat that is in their hand. They discuss the different temperatures found in ecosystems around the world. What do animals that live in...
Curated OER
What Makes Good Long Undies?
Students examine a variety of different types of fabrics and discuss what characteristics would make a good pair of long underwear for a journey to Antarctica. They investigate the properties of various fabrics and determine how they...
Curated OER
What Should You Wear in Antarctica?
Third graders experiment to see what would make a good coat for being in a climate that is freezing. They test to see what material makes the best insulation for coats.
Purdue University
Design of a Door Alarm
How does electricity work? Budding scientists explore the concepts of electrical currents and open and closed circuits with class discussion and a hands-on activity using a battery to turn on a light bulb. Learners also make predictions...
Curated OER
Electricity: Will It Conduct?
Students build conductivity testers and investigate which solids and solutions conduct electricity. Working in groups, they predict which items will conduct electricity and record their answers on worksheets.
Curated OER
Keeping Warm: Science Review Game
Test the class on what they know about thermal conduction, insulation, and heat. This interactive game provides 15 questions related to the science of temperature, heat, and cold. Keep your class warm with a fun review game!
Polar Trec
South Pole Ice Cream!
How can you turn an ice cream activity into a scientific investigation? It's easy if you know ionic compounds, heat transfer, and the exothermic and endothermic process. Learners will explore the science behind freezing, insulation, and...
DiscoverE
Build a Roller Coaster
Let the good times roll as young thrill seekers build a roller coaster on school grounds. Future engineers design and build a roller coaster from flexible tubing. The roller coaster is for a marble, so there will be plenty of room to let...