Activity
Heat Transfer Unit
In this unit students will explore the concepts of heat, temperature, and heat transfer. After an introduction to these ideas, students will perform experiments to understand heat transfer.
By Helen Benton, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
In this unit students will explore the concepts of heat, temperature, and heat transfer. After an introduction to these ideas, students will perform experiments to understand heat transfer.
Lesson 1: Introduction
Begin by watching the video about Heat Transfer from Flocabulary.
What is heat?
Heat is a form of energy caused by the movement of warmth from hotter substances or objects to cooler ones. Example: The fire burned in the fireplace, giving off a lot of heat.
Where do we feel heat?
We might feel heat around us everyday! What are some things that feel hot?
Where do we feel cold?
We also feel things that feel cold. What are some things around us that feel cold?
Temperature
Temperature is a measure of the heat or coldness of an object or substance.
We can feel whether something is hot or cold with our bodies.
We can measure how hot or cold something is with a thermometer.
Experiment 1
We can use a thermometer to find the temperature for anything!
Find the temperature of some things in the room. Before checking the temperature, guess which one you think will be the hottest. Compare your guess to the actual temperature. What is the hottest?
Homework
Check out the kitchen at home or at the dorm.
What material are the pots and pans?
Can you pick it up with your hands from the cupboard? Can you pick it up with your hands once you put it in the oven or on the stove?
If you covered your hands up after putting it in the oven, what did you use? What material did you cover your hands with?
*NOTE- Do NOT turn on the oven or touch any hot pots and pans without the help of your parents or RIs.
Lesson 2: What is heat transfer?
Heat just wants to move- from warm to cool!
Things that feel HOT (like the mini pizza) will cool off over time.
Things that feel COLD (like the popsicle) will melt and warm up.
This is called Heat Transfer.
It means that the heat is moving from a warm place to a cooler place.
Thermal
Thermal means of, related to or caused by heat. The thermal energy from the fireplace and my tea kept me warm.
Homework share
“If I went in my kitchen and grabbed a pot or a pan from the cabinet under the stove, the pot or the pan would be cold, but if I put the pan or the pot on the stove and turned it on high the bottom of the pot or the pan would be hot! I would have to put on an oven mitt to take it off the stove.”
Pans for cooking are usually made of _________________.
- Metal
- Fabric
- Slime
Oven mitts are usually made of _________________.
- Metal
- Fabric
- Slime
NGSS Standards
- 4-PS3-3. Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that occur when objects collide.
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