Classroom Resources: Energy & Thermodynamics

1 – 10 of 10 Classroom Resources

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  Renewable Energy, Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Interdisciplinary, Graphing | Middle School, High School

  Lesson Plan: Solar Cookers

  In this lesson, students will learn about the use of alternative cooking fuels that could replace burning wood, coal, or other smoke-producing materials to heat and cook food in developing nations, focusing on solar cookers. They will watch a video and read an article that provide a general overview of the need for alternative fuels. Then, in small groups, students will research, design, build, and test a solar cooker to determine if it is an effective method of cooking food in a developing nation. They will give a presentation to the class on their design, test results, and any improvements they would make to their initial design, and they will answer some reflection questions about the solar cookers made by their class and their role in the group project.

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  Heat, Specific Heat, Phase Changes | Elementary School, Middle School

  Lab: The Insulation Investigation

  In this lab, students will think critically about the properties, structure and function of materials as they design and build a device used to insulate an ice cube to prevent it from melting.

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  Heat of Vaporization , Boiling Point, Intermolecular Forces, Phase Changes, Heating Curve, Heat of Combustion, Temperature, Specific Heat, Observations, Chemical Change, Physical Change | Middle School, High School

  Demonstration: Cooking an Egg in Chemistry Class

  In this demonstration, students will observe the very high latent heat of vaporization for water by boiling water over a Bunsen burner in a paper cup to cook a boiled egg. The discussion can be extended to incorporate intermolecular forces to explain the unusually high boiling point of water, as well as heat of vaporization and specific heat capacity.

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  Specific Heat, Heat, Temperature, Experimental Design | Middle School, High School

  Activity: Simulation Activity: Understanding Specific Heat

  In this simulation, students will play the role of engineer in deciding which materials are the best candidates for a building project. They will calculate the specific heat capacity of various building materials to determine which ones meet the criteria for building an energy efficient home. Students will also do a cost analysis to determine which material to use in their building project. On the student activity sheet, they will answer additional conceptual and numerical questions related to specific heat capacity.

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  Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Observations, Molecular Motion | High School, Middle School

  Activity: What Makes Something Feel Warm

  In this lesson students actively engage in thinking about energy issues in chemistry and the nature of energy (thermal) transfer. The idea that temperature is a measure of heat content will be challenged, and students will be given the opportunity to collect data that will allow them to clearly see that different materials transfer energy at different rates.

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  Calorimetry, Specific Heat, Heat, Temperature | High School, Middle School

  Lab: Understanding Specific Heat

  In this lab, students will get a general idea of specific heat by investigating the mixing of two liquids at different temperatures. In one case, the same liquids will be mixed, in another case different liquids will be mixed.

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  Heating Curve, Phase Changes, Intermolecular Forces, Freezing Point, Melting Point, Boiling Point, Heat of Fusion, Heat of Vaporization , Molecular Motion, Temperature, Heat, Specific Heat | High School, Middle School

  Activity: Simulation Activity: Heating Curve of Water

  In this simulation, students will investigate qualitatively and quantitatively what happens as water changes states.

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  Exothermic & Endothermic, Heat, Specific Heat, Temperature, Enthalpy, Calorimetry, Observations, Inferences | High School, Middle School

  Demonstration: Energy in Hot and Cold Packs

  In this demonstration, students will observe temperature changes in chemical hot and cold packs and discuss processes of endothermic and exothermic changes. They will also see that common household products can be used to make a hot and cold pack.

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  Heat, Specific Heat, Temperature, Experimental Design, Scientific Method, Physical Properties | High School, Middle School

  Lesson Plan: Designing & Engineering a Fast Defroster

  In this activity students use their understanding of energy transfer to “design a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.”  And “evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.”  The real world problem is to help a cook who is trying to make a meal, but realizes some of the ingredients are frozen and must be thawed before he can begin.

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  Heating Curve, Phase Changes, Intermolecular Forces, Freezing Point, Melting Point, Boiling Point, Heat of Vaporization , Molecular Motion, Temperature, Specific Heat, Heat, Heat of Fusion | Middle School, High School

  Simulation: Heating Curve of Water

  In the May 2015 issue, students explore the heating curve for water from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Students compare illustrations of each physical state depicted on the curve and calculate the energy required to transition from one state to another.