The aim of this lesson is to introduce the concepts of heat and temperature, which many students find confusing. During the lesson, students will be asked to explore and discuss situations where even though the same amount of heat is absorbed by several substances, the increase in temperature of the substances is different. This video lesson presents a series of stories relating to heat and temperature, beginning with a visit to a factory where gamat oil is produced. In the video, a man dips his finger into boiling gamat oil yet feels no pain. The scene will draw students’ attention and raise their curiosity about how this is possible. Students will also carry out several experiments to compare and relate the situations where the same amount of heat absorbed by substances will result in different temperatures. By the end of this lesson, students will understand the term “specific heat capacity” and will recognize the difference between a high or low specific heat capacity. They will also understand the term “thermal diffusivity” and how this relates to the topic of the lesson. This lesson offers some authentic learning experiences where students will have the opportunity to relate the concept of heat and temperature to everyday situations. It will take about 50 minutes to complete - however, you may want to divide the lesson into two classes if the activities require more time.

Students learn about the nature of thermal energy, temperature and how materials store thermal energy. They discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities in which they investigate the difference between temperature, thermal energy and the heat capacity of different materials. Students also learn how some engineering requires an understanding of thermal energy.

Students relate thermal energy to heat capacity by comparing the heat capacities of different materials and graphing the change in temperature over time for a specific material. Students learn why heat capacity is an important property of thermal energy that engineers use in many applications.

In this activity, learners investigate the speed of chemical reactions with light sticks. Learners discover that reactions can be sped up or slowed down due to temperature changes.

In this video segment adapted from NASA, astronomer Michelle Thaller introduces the world of infrared light and demonstrates how infrared cameras allow us to see more than what the naked eye can perceive.

Students test the insulation properties of different materials by timing how long it takes ice cubes to melt in the presence of various insulating materials. Students learn about the role that thermal insulation materials can play in reducing heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation, as well as the design and implementation of insulating materials in construction and engineering.

In this course, we will explore what makes things in the world the way they are and why, to understand the science and consider the engineering. We learn not only why the physical world behaves the way it does, but also how to think with chemical intuition, which can’t be gained simply by observing the macroscopic world.
This 2018 version of 3.091 by Jeffrey Grossman and the 2010 OCW version by Don Sadoway cover similar topics and both provide complete learning materials. This 2018 version also includes Jeffrey Grossman’s innovative Goodie Bags, Why This Matters, and CHEMATLAS content, as well as additional practice problems, quizzes, and exams.

This activity is a guided inquiry of how molecules move in liquid. Students develop questions, use their observation skills to describe what they saw, record and analyze their findings, and use their data to begin to hypothesize what is happening in the investigation.

This guided inquiry activity helps students differentiate between heat and temperature and goes on to relate specific heat to thermal conductivity.

This activity is a chemistry lab-based investigation where students apply observational skills and critical thinking skills to finding specific heat and heat capacity using different temperatures of water and solids. A final activity will assess students understanding of specific heat and heat capacity and promote data analysis skills, using real-life situations.

Student teams design insulated beverage bottles with the challenge to test them to determine which materials (and material thicknesses) work best at insulating hot water to keep it warm for as long as possible. Students test and compare their designs in still air and under a stream of moving air from a house fan.

This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, examines physical science concepts, such as heat, conductors, and insulation, and applies this knowledge to the animals and people in the Arctic and Antarctica.

This article assembles free resources from the Keeping Warm issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine into a unit outline based on the 5E learning cycle framework. Outlines are provided for grades K-2 and 3-5.

This article features children's literature about heat, temperature, and adaptations and behaviors that allow animals and people to survive in the polar regions.

This activity allows student to investigate how hurricanes transfer heat by conducting hands-on experiments.

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Students explore issues related to the rapid intensification of hurricanes. They become familiar with the concepts of heat energy and the specific heat of water and interact with animations of sea surface temperature images to identify the Gulf Stream and the Loop Current. Students use NOAA View and Google Earth, free data-image tools, to explore visualizations of heat content in the Gulf of Mexico just before Hurricane Katrina. The examine a plotted path of Katrina as an overlay on these visualizations and observe changes in the heat content of Gulf waters as the hurricane passed over it.

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This article highlights lessons and activities for elementary students about heat, insulation, and how animals and people stay warm in cold environments.

Students learn the components of the rock cycle and how rocks can change over time under the influence of weathering, erosion, pressure and heat. They learn about geotechnical engineering and the role these engineers play in the development of an area of land, the design and placement of new structures, and detection of natural disasters.

A realistic mass and spring laboratory. Hang masses from springs and adjust the spring stiffness and damping. You can even slow time. Transport the lab to different planets. A chart shows the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy for each spring.

A realistic mass and spring laboratory. Hang masses from springs and adjust the spring stiffness and damping. You can even slow time. Transport the lab to different planets. A chart shows the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy for each spring.