Classroom Resources: Energy & Thermodynamics
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1 – 24 of 24 Classroom Resources
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Renewable Energy, Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Interdisciplinary, Graphing | Middle School, High School
Lesson Plan: Solar Cookers Mark as Favorite (7 Favorites)
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, Temperature, Specific Heat, Law of Conservation of Energy, Enthalpy, Calorimetry, Exothermic & Endothermic, Balancing Equations, Chemical Change, Measurements, Mole Concept, Dimensional Analysis, Culminating Project, Interdisciplinary, Review, Graphing, Observations, Chemical Properties, Physical Properties | High School
Project: Handwarmer Design Challenge Mark as Favorite (34 Favorites)
In this project, students will use their knowledge of thermodynamics to design a handwarmer for a manufacturing company that can maintain a temperature of 30-40°C for at least 5 minutes and is designed for the average human hand. Students will create a final product after rounds of testing and an advertising poster that summarizes the results of their testing and promotes their design.
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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 Mark as Favorite (6 Favorites)
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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Heat, Specific Heat, Phase Changes, Intermolecular Forces | High School
Activity: "It's a Phase" Puzzles Mark as Favorite (1 Favorite)
In this activity, students will complete either a crossword puzzle or a word search puzzle for common vocabulary terms related to the topics of phase changes and heat transfer. This activity provides an opportunity for students to increase their familiarity with the terms that they will be expected to use when learning about thermochemistry.
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Specific Heat, Heat, Temperature | High School
Simulation: Understanding Specific Heat Capacity Mark as Favorite (69 Favorites)
In this simulation, students will play the role of engineer. They will calculate the specific heat capacity of various materials to determine which ones meet stated criteria and then perform a cost analysis to determine which material to use.
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Specific Heat, Heat, Temperature, Experimental Design | Middle School, High School
Activity: Simulation Activity: Understanding Specific Heat Mark as Favorite (26 Favorites)
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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Calorimetry, Specific Heat, Heat | High School
Activity: Heat Flow Process Engineering Optimization Mark as Favorite (20 Favorites)
In this activity, students will use a team-based approach to solve the problem of upscaling a chemical process from lab scale to production scale for a hypothetical reaction. The project involves thermochemistry concepts of heat and calorimetry, along with conversion factors. The students will use a team-oriented problem-solving approach. The emphasis is placed on data driven decision making.
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Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Exothermic & Endothermic, Energy Diagrams, Hess's Law, Calorimetry, Entropy, Enthalpy, Gibb's Free Energy | High School
Lesson Plan: Thermochemistry and Thermodynamics Unit Plan Mark as Favorite (17 Favorites)
The AACT high school classroom resource library and multimedia collection has everything you need to put together a unit plan for your classroom: lessons, activities, labs, projects, videos, simulations, and animations. We constructed a unit plan using AACT resources that is designed to teach thermochemistry and thermodynamics to your students.
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Heat, Law of Conservation of Energy, Specific Heat, Temperature, Calorimetry, Phase Changes, Boiling Point, Melting Point, Heating Curve, Intermolecular Forces, Molecular Motion, Phase Diagram | High School
Lesson Plan: Phase Changes and Heat Transfer Unit Plan Mark as Favorite (20 Favorites)
The AACT high school classroom resource library and multimedia collection has everything you need to put together a unit plan for your classroom: lessons, activities, labs, projects, videos, simulations, and animations. We constructed a unit plan using AACT resources that is designed to teach the Phase Changes and Heat Transfer to your students.
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Exothermic & Endothermic, Specific Heat, Density, Phase Changes | High School
Lab: Chemistry is Cooler Stress Test Challenge Mark as Favorite (64 Favorites)
In this lab, students will design and build a device capable of insulating an ice cube submerged in boiling water for two minutes. In this open-ended inquiry based activity, students will be required to critically think about structure and function of the materials they wish to use to build a device to solve a complex real-world problem. Students must consider the thermal properties of the materials, density, and the need to form a non-permeable barrier between the ice cube and the boiling water.
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Calorimetry, Specific Heat, Identifying an Unknown | High School
Lab: The Search for a Hit and Run Suspect Mark as Favorite (92 Favorites)
In this lab, students will determine the specific heat capacity of multiple unknown metal samples through collecting data and completing calorimetric calculations. Students will take on the role of a forensic investigator and use their results to help them determine if a suspect’s vehicle was potentially involved in a hit and run incident.
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Heat, Temperature, Specific Heat, Observations, Molecular Motion | High School, Middle School
Activity: What Makes Something Feel Warm Mark as Favorite (55 Favorites)
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 Mark as Favorite (31 Favorites)
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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Colligative Properties, Specific Heat, Freezing Point Depression, Solute & Solvent, Concentration, Heat, Temperature, Calorimetry, Error Analysis | High School
Lesson Plan: The Hot and Cold of it All Mark as Favorite (13 Favorites)
In this lesson students will analyze the effectiveness of different brands of antifreeze/coolants and their ability to protect an engine in cold climates. Students will conduct a lab investigation to examine the freezing point depression in samples that have been diluted with distilled water. Students will also determine the specific heat capacities of antifreeze/coolant products as compared to pure water and explain how it relates to thermal energy transfer in the internal combustion engine.
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Calorimetry, Law of Conservation of Energy, Combustion, Heat of Combustion, Specific Heat, Heat, Exothermic & Endothermic, Bond Energy, Temperature, Measurements, Accuracy, Dimensional Analysis, Error Analysis | High School
Lab: How Much Energy is in Your Snack Food? Mark as Favorite (48 Favorites)
In this lab, students will find the amount of heat energy stored in foods and compare heat calories with food calories.
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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 Mark as Favorite (88 Favorites)
In this simulation, students will investigate qualitatively and quantitatively what happens as water changes states.
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Heat of Neutralization, Acid Base Reactions, Exothermic & Endothermic, Temperature, Specific Heat, Calorimetry, Bond Energy, Net Ionic Equation, Molarity, Dimensional Analysis, Measurements, Mole Concept | High School
Lab: Heat of Neutralization Mark as Favorite (4 Favorites)
In this lab, students carry out an acid-base reaction to calculate the heat of neutralization based on experimental data. This lab will reinforce the concepts of exothermic and endothermic processes, system and surroundings, and heat of reaction (specifically, neutralization).
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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 Mark as Favorite (22 Favorites)
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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Specific Heat, Heat, Temperature | High School
Demonstration: Dramatic Demonstration of Thermal Conductivity and Specific Heat Capacity Mark as Favorite (47 Favorites)
In this demonstration, students will observe the high thermal conductivity and low heat capacity of copper metal.
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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 Mark as Favorite (12 Favorites)
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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Calorimetry, Exothermic & Endothermic, Heat, Specific Heat, Temperature, Scientific Method, Graphing, Experimental Design | High School
Lab: Cool Science: Building and Testing a Model Radiator Mark as Favorite (19 Favorites)
In this lab students construct a model of a car radiator to investigate parameters that lead to efficient cooling. Students investigate multiple variables as they experiment with various radiator designs. This lesson focuses on thermochemistry calculations and engineering practices.
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Chemical Change, Combustion, Balancing Equations, Density, Specific Heat | High School
Demonstration: Methane Bubble (Dragon Ball Z) Mark as Favorite (6 Favorites)
In this demonstration, students will observe the combustion of a methane bubble. This exciting demonstration can be used as a dramatic and engaging introduction to the concepts of combustion reactions, chemical change, and balancing equations.
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Specific Heat, Heat of Combustion, Temperature | High School
Demonstration: Measuring Heat Mark as Favorite (27 Favorites)
In this demonstration students will observe what happens to the temperature of water when different volumes of hot water are added and also when copper, the same temperature as the hot water is added.
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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 Mark as Favorite (49 Favorites)
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.