Heat in Motion: Thermal Energy Transfer and Particle Behavior

Lesson Overview

Students investigate how thermal energy moves through conduction, convection, and radiation by sorting real-world examples, measuring temperature changes in water mixing experiments, and analyzing particle kinetic energy across phase changes. Real-world contexts include building insulation design and spacecraft heat shield engineering.

Materials

• Thermometers or temperature probes (1 per group)
• Hot water (from tap or kettle — ~55°C, pre-measured by teacher)
• Cold water (ice water, ~5°C, pre-measured)
• Styrofoam cups (2 per group)
• Graduated cylinders (100 mL)
• Stopwatch or timer
• Graph paper or student lab sheets
• Heat Transfer Card Set (printed and cut — 18 cards, see cardSets)
• Metal spoon and wooden spoon (for engage demo)
• Mug of hot water (for engage demo)
• Aluminum foil, bubble wrap, cotton batting, foam strips (for Elaborate insulation challenge)
• Rubber bands and tape
• Small identical plastic containers with lids (3 per group, for Elaborate)
• Whiteboard markers and mini-whiteboards or chart paper

Scaffolded Task Progression