In this tutorial students will learn about static electricity. Students will also be able to explain what happens when neutral, positively charged, and/or negatively charged objects come into contact with one another.
This article continues an examination of each of the seven essential principles of climate literacy on which the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is structured. Principle 2 covers the complex interactions among the components of the Earth system. The author discusses the scientific concepts underlying the interactions and expands the discussion with diagrams, photos, and online resources.
The author explains heat transfer and how it applies to living in extremely cold environments.
Students will design a working trebuchet for maximum accuracy, distance and force using the engineering design process. Students will utilize the measurement formulas to calculate kinetic and potential energy and therefore create a trebuchet for a specific function (ex: hitting a target, knocking down a wall or launching for distance).
This article aligns the concepts of Essential Principle 2 of the Climate Sciences to the K-5 content standards of the National Science Education Standards. The author also identifies common misconceptions about heat and the greenhouse gases effect and offers resources for assessing students' understanding of interactions among components of the Earth system. This article continues the examination of the climate sciences and climate literacy on which the online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle is structured.
In this lab, students will investigate the law of conservation of energy. Student teams must develop and carry out a lab procedure to achieve the stated goal of finding the maximum conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy. Using a ruler and a toy car, students will work collaboratively to design a lab that will demonstrate the change from one form of energy to another based upon the law of conservation of energy. Teams will then develop a hypothesis for maximizing the amount of energy transfer and create a procedure for proving the hypothesis. Once they run their lab, students will work independently to create formal lab reports that summarize the activity.
Students are introduced to the concept of energy conversion, and how energy transfers from one form, place or object to another. They learn that energy transfers can take the form of force, electricity, light, heat and sound and are never without some energy "loss" during the process. Two real-world examples of engineered systems light bulbs and cars are examined in light of the law of conservation of energy to gain an understanding of their energy conversions and inefficiencies/losses. Students' eyes are opened to the examples of energy transfer going on around them every day. Includes two simple teacher demos using a tennis ball and ball bearings. A PowerPoint(TM) presentation and quizzes are provided.
Students learn about kinetic and potential energy, including various types of potential energy: chemical, gravitational, elastic and thermal energy. They identify everyday examples of these energy types, as well as the mechanism of corresponding energy transfers. They learn that energy can be neither created nor destroyed and that relationships exist between a moving object's mass and velocity. Further, the concept that energy can be neither created nor destroyed is reinforced, as students see the pervasiveness of energy transfer among its many different forms. A PowerPoint(TM) presentation and post-quiz are provided.
In this lesson, students investigate and learn the difference between conduction, convection, and radiation. Teacher demonstrations are used to initiate small group discussions. As assessment, students will create a tri-fold informational brochure to demonstrate their conceptual understanding.
In this hands-on lesson, students explore the effect of heating and cooling on the dispersal of food coloring in water. Students will observe how heat speeds up changes in materials. Real life connections are used, and lesson extensions such as probing questions, teacher and student activity sheets, assessment and a web link is included.
Students will learn about heat transfer by designing a refrigerator and investigating winter clothing.
Students learn that charge movement through a circuit depends on the resistance and arrangement of the circuit components. In a hands-on activity, students build and investigate the characteristics of series circuits. In another activity, students design and build a flashlight.
Background: students are familiar with static electricity, charge, and sparks. They also know about conservation of energy, forms of energy including potential energy, power, and work. Students will complete a variety of activities using breadboards, which will display various types of circuits and their effect on the flow of electricity.
In this series of quick hands-on activities, students will demonstrate that heat is produced when objects are rubbed together. As assessment, students will identify and draw examples that illustrate this concept.
This article provides elementary school teachers with background knowledge about science concepts needed to understand the first of seven essential principles of climate literacy--the sun is the primary source of energy for our climate system. Graphs, diagrams, and oneline resources provide more background for the teacher. The article appears in a free online magazine that focuses on the seven essential princples of the climate sciences.
This formative assessment item is used to uncover student ideas about solar radiation. Students will decide what they believe the sun provides to Earth. It is aligned to National Science Education Standards. Resources are provided to give additional information, as well as instructional suggestions.