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Thermal Energy

Readiness

Thermal Energy

TEKS Objective

Explore the uses of energy including mechanical, light, thermal, electrical, and sound energy.

Essential Understanding

The student knows that energy occurs in many forms and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems.

Science Background

Thermal Energy Physics: Thermalenergy.org (website) - Explains the physical science of thermal energy and relates it to heat, absolute zero, temperature scale and more.

Thermal Energy Physics
Thermalenergy.org

Geothermal Energy: Energy Quest (website) - Students learn about forms and sources of geothermal energy; main menu provides a detailed overview of energy uses and sources. 

Geothermal Energy
Energy Story, California Energy Commision, www.energyquest.ca.gov

Heat Transfer with Coffee: School for Champions (website) - Excellent explanation of heat transfer and insulation with an everyday item. Includes questions that could prompt discussion on heat transfer.

Heat Transfer with Coffee
by Ron Kurtus, School for Champions, www.school-for-champions.com

Signature Lesson

How Much Heat Will It Hold? TeachEngineering (website) - Students discover the importance of heat capacity and relate thermal energy to heat capacity by comparing the heat capacities of different materials and graphing changes in temperature over time for a specific material.

How Much Heat Will It Hold?
TeachEngineering, www.teachengineering.org

Supporting Lessons

Investigating the Types of Energy in Different Objects: Science and Health Partnership (website) - In this activity, students learn that energy comes in different forms and that different objects exhibit multiple forms of energy.

Investigating the Types of Energy in Different Objects
by Ben Engel, Arthur Millius, Lisa Monti and Helen Wong-Lew, Science and Health Partnership, www.seplessons.ucsf.edu


Using Heat from the Sun: BioEd Online (website) - Students observe and describe how energy from sunlight can heat water, and explain the role of the Sun in Earth’s water cycle.

Using Heat from the Sun
BioEd Online, www.bioedonline.org

Capturing the Sun’s Warmth: TeachEngineering (website) - Students investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different materials to determine which materials are best for use in passive solar building design.

Capturing the Sun’s Warmth
TeachEngineering, www.teachengineering.org

 

Elaboration Lessons and Extensions

Converting Energy: Science Netlinks (website) - This lesson explores the idea of energy transformations and conversions and helps students understand what energy is and how it can be measured.

Converting Energy
Science Netlinks, www.sciencenetlinks.com

Hot Cans and Cold Cans: TeachEngineering (website) - Students apply the concepts of conduction, convection and radiation to design an experiment that uses common items to investigate heat transfer.

Hot Cans and Cold Cans
TeachEngineering, www.teachengineering.org

Saved by the Sun Solar Cooker: NOVA Teachers (website) - Students follow a seven-step process to design, build and test a solar cooker that will pasteurize water.

Saved by the Sun Solar Cooker
NOVA Teachers, www.pbs.org

Let the Sun Shine: TeachEngineering (website) - Students learn about different ways we use energy from the sun.

Let the Sun Shine
TeachEngineering, www.teachengineering.org

Assessment Ideas

After conducting the Signature Lesson, How Much Heat Will It Hold?, have students design and make a thermos using a small jar inside a large jar with one of the materials from the activity as the buffer around the small jar. Have students place hot or cold water inside their thermos and measure the temperature at regular intervals to see how will it worked.

Stop the Heat from Escaping: TeachEngineering (website) - In this activity, students act as engineers and determine which type of insulation would conserve the most energy in a building.

Stop the Heat from Escaping
TeachEngineering, www.teachengineering.org

Literature Connections

Energy Heat, Light, and Fuel (Amazing Science). Stille, D. (ISBN-13: 978-1404802490)

The Sun. Ring, Susan (ISBN-13: 978-0736820226)

Arrow to the Sun. McDermott, Gerald (ISBN-13: 978-0140502114)

Related Science TEKS

(5.1A) Science Safety
The student is expected to demonstrate safe practices and the use of safety equipment as described in the Texas Safety Standards during classroom and outdoor investigations.

(5.2A) Design/Conduct Experiment with One Variable
The student is expected to describe, plan, and implement simple experimental investigations testing one variable.

(5.2B) Ask Questions, Formulate a Hypothesis
The student is expected to ask well-defined questions, formulate testable hypotheses, and select and use appropriate equipment and technology.

(5.2C) Collect Data
The student is expected to collect information by detailed observations and accurate measuring.

(5.2D) Analyze Evidence and Explain
The student is expected to analyze and interpret information to construct reasonable explanations from direct (observable) and indirect (inferred) evidence.

(5.2E) Value of Repeated Experiments
The student is expected to demonstrate that repeated investigations may increase the reliability of results.

(5.2F) Communicate Conclusions
The student is expected to communicate valid conclusions in both written and verbal forms.

(5.2G) Graphs, Tables, Charts
The student is expected to construct appropriate simple graphs, tables, maps, and charts using technology, including computers, to organize, examine, and evaluate information.

Related Math TEKS

5.10C   The student is expected to select and use appropriate units and formulas to measure length, perimeter, area, and volume.

5.12B   The student is expected to use experimental results to make predictions.

5.14B   The student is expected to solve problems that incorporate understanding the problem, making a plan, carrying out the plan, and evaluating the solution for reasonableness.

5.15A The student is expected to explain and record observations using objects, words, pictures, numbers, and technology.

Additional Resources

Thermal Physics: The Physics Classroom (website) - Provides an introduction to thermal physics.

Thermal Physics
The Physics Classroom, www.physicsclassroom.com

Heat Transfer: School for Champions (website) - Basic information about heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation, along with other heat-related topics relevant to classroom instruction.

Heat Transfer
by Ron Kurtus, School for Champions, www.school-for-champions.com

Mechanical Energy: Kids & Energy: Mechanical energy explained in a fun, kid-friendly way.

Mechanical Energy
Kids & Energy, www.kids.esdb.bg

 

 

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