What is Heat Transfer?

This website has 3 short student activities introducing conduction, convection, and radiation. It includes extension ideas and other activities relating to the GLE. It also includes a student handout with questions students can answer after performing each activity. Students conduct an experiment for the transfer of heat energy through conduction, convection, and radiation.

Weblink address (URL):

What is Heat Transfer?

Standards & Objectives

Essential and guiding questions:

What is "heat transfer"? How does it affect our weather?
How does radiation heat transfer happen?
How does conduction heat transfer happen?
How does convection heat transfer happen?

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Understanding

Extension suggestions:

What are some other examples of when we see radiation, conduction, and convection heat transfer happening?
Can we think of how we might use different forms of heat transfer?
Research or share ideas about solar energy to heat homes, water in swimming pools.
Learn about convection ovens and how they work.
When do we see evidence of heat transfer in our everyday lives? Examples:
- Feeling heat and suffering heat strokes on a hot day. Share caution exercised by construction workers, people on the beach, etc. on hot days.
- Walking barefoot on dark pavement on a hot day and risk of burning soles of feet.
- Melting of ice on a lake or pond and risks for ice skaters or ice fishermen.
- Sudden change of temperature and storms coming in.
- Heat in a closed car or room and danger for people and animals.
Look over other activities from CAPS: Does the Sun Influence the Temperature of the Earth?, Reading a Thermometer, Keeping a Daily Weather Log, Convection in Our Atmosphere, and What is Temperature?

Helpful Hints

Materials:

Warm surface
Candle & matches
Scissors
Paper
Tape
String
Handout #1
Handout #2

References

Contributors:

Originator:

Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation

eduToolbox® is a resource-sharing portal developed by the Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation with collaborative support and funding from the Tennessee Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education's Math & Science Partnership program.