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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Converting Energy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the concepts of energy transformation and conversion. They engage in Internet and hands-on activities. Students visit the Atoms Family Website and complete a Building a Better Pyramid activity by adding insulation to...
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Activity3:32
DiscoverE

At Home: Keep a Cube Activity

For Students 3rd - 8th
Let cooler heads prevail. Future engineers first learn about heat transfer and insulation. They then design and build a contraption that will prevent an ice cube from melting for as long as possible.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Hot Is It?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities with your class by investigating the difference between temperature, thermal energy and the heat capacity of different materials.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cooking with the Sun

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore using energy from the sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. This excellent two-day lesson has groups of students build and test a variety of solar cookers....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make Your Own Temperature Scale

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Differentiate between temperature and thermal energy. Your class will build a thermometer using simple materials and develop their own scale for measuring temperature. Discuss with your class and consider why engineers need to understand...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Winter Insulation

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students test insulation materials. In this energy conservation lesson, students use different insulation materials to see which one holds heat the best. Students pour hot water into bottles, take the temperature, wait 15 minutes, then...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Thermal Energy and Heat Unit

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explain that heat energy in a material consists of the disordered motions of its atoms or molecules. They know and explain that transformations of energy usually transform some energy into the form of heat, which dissipates by...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stop Heat from Escaping

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore the uses of insulation and describe how insulation helps to conserve energy. They work in groups and use plastic, wool, paper and aluminum to experiment with the heat-retaining properties of various materials.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat Discrepancies

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Students answer the question, "Why do Eskimos build houses out of ice to keep warm. Since heat goes from hot to cold, don¿¿¿t the ice walls take away the warmth inside the house?" They explain how snow or ice can actually be insulators.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Lesson: Using Heat from the Sun

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable fuels. They study investigate types of heat transfer such as convection, conduction, and radiation. They complete crossword puzzles based on the vocabulary. They design, construct and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Three Little Pigs and Heat Transfer

For Teachers 4th - 6th
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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring Solar Energy

For Teachers 8th - 12th
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. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wasting Energy at Home

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students act as energy conservation engineers and identify the ways energy is conserved or wasted. They also discover many ways to personally conserve energy everyday. Students discover how engineers perform home energy audits to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Activities

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students conduct a variety of experiments related to solar energy, heating, cooling, gravity, physical insulation and wind. They consider how the experiments relate to energy and the consumption of energy and then participate in a class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

CONVERTING ENERGY

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore energy through the idea of energy transformations and conversions, and to develop students' ideas of what energy is and how it can be measured.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heat and Matter

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students explore liquids and solids by conducting in class experiments. In this matter lesson, students define the properties of matter and how heat can change those properties. Students experiment with heating objects such as butter and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sunlight and Warm Air

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students discuss radiant energy from the sun, performing a simple experiment with sun glasses and bright light to demonstrate the concept. Students further participate in simple in-class experiments to demonstrate: air density as it...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy/Light/Heat/Sound

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study the properties of heat in this series of lessons. They discuss sources of heat and experiment to determine its properties. They identify insulators and conductors by measuring temperatures, and graphing their data....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Turning Up The Heat!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers investigate the properties of heat. They explore methods of temperature control and measurement. Through experimentation and activities, students design a high tech tree house. They consider electrical, solar, and natural...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Transfer of Thermal Energy

For Students 7th - 12th
In this thermal energy worksheet, students will explore different ways heat is transferred including conduction and convection. Students will look at how insulators work and how room temperature can affect heat transfer. This worksheet...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students distinguish between kinetic an potential energy. They recognize that energy is conserved when changing from one form to another. Students compare the scientific meaning of work with its everyday meaning.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Methods of Heat Transfer

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders discuss the forms of heat transfer that relate to the human body. Discussion revolves around the ability of different designs of hats to change the rate of heat transfer to and from the body. Students then experiment...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Power: Work and Energy

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Learners explore how work and energy create power. They complete activities involving simple machines, energy, energy conversion, and the role of conductors and insulators. They choose from a menu of options the activities they would...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy Conservation

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders discuss four points related to conservation. They work in groups to design a package to keep an ice cube from melting to demonstrate the concept of insulation. They then make a chart that shows which materials used did the...