Thermal Energy Activities and Heat Transfer Lab - Science Unit for 3rd, 4th, 5th

This complete unit includes eight sets of hands-on thermal energy activities, a heat transfer lab, video links, flash cards, review sheet, and assessment to help third, fourth, or fifth grade students understand key science concepts.

Open the preview to take a closer look at the unit. You’ll see that the activities offer safe (and fun!) ways to explore heat in the classroom.

First, using inquiry, students explore key thermal energy concepts. For each guiding question, they explore two or three simple (but powerful) heat activities and draw conclusions. These can be conducted as labs or presented as demonstrations. These short labs can be spread over eight sessions or condensed to five.

• What is heat? Kids compare the movement of food coloring in hot, warm, and cold water, rub their hands together rapidly, and touch a flashlight that’s been on for a while to deduce that it involves movement and occurs through transfer of energy.
• How does heat travel? Students touch an ice cube, a cup of warm water, and their cheek to determine that it travels from warmer to cooler areas.
• What is conduction? A long-handled metal spoon is placed in a pan of hot water. The teacher runs an iron over a towel. Kids feel the handle of the spoon and the towel and realize that conduction is the transfer of heat from a warmer regions or objects to a cooler regions or objects that touch one another.
• What is convection? Colored ice water is dropped into warm water and sinks. A paper curlicue is placed over a heat source and spins. This shows that convection involves rising of warm air or water (and sinking of cool).
• What is radiation? Kids place their hands near (but not touching) a heat source. They stand in the shade then move into the sunlight. This illustrates that objects radiate heat, which travels through the air or space.
• Which materials insulate and conduct heat? Students pour equal amounts of hot water into a metal can, glass jar, and Styrofoam cup. Then they pour cold water into the same containers. For each, they measure the temperature every five minutes. In the end, they find that dense materials are better conductors of thermal energy, but less dense materials are better insulators.
• How does heat change matter? Kids place an ice cube in an open jar and another in a jar closed with a lid. They explore states of matter and over time see how the solid ice cube in the open jar melts to form a liquid, then evaporates to form a gas. Activities and worksheets help them identify attributes of all three states.
• How do we measure heat? After measuring a few simple things with thermometers, students learn the freezing and boiling points in Fahrenheit and Celsius, as well as room temperature.

Second, they explore thermal energy videos. This reinforces basic concepts and gets rid of any misconceptions kids still may have.

Third, students review and take a test. Flash cards and a study guide help them study. Then they take a test. It consists of true-false questions on heat concepts and matching vocabulary with definitions.

As a culmination to the unit, kids conduct a heat transfer experiment using a fair test. They pour ice water into three cups and wrap each with a different material. The lab sheet asks them to ask a question, hypothesize, list variables, controls, measurement tools, and replication, write results, and draw a conclusion.

Files include all the pages you’ll need to teach thermal energy:

• Lesson plans
• Complete directions for every lab/station
• Student lab sheets
• Flash cards
• Review sheet
• Conduction, convection, or radiation worksheet
• Assessment with answer key
• Heat experiment

For the science labs, you’ll also need some common materials. Most can be found in your classroom or home.

• Pitcher
• Clear cups
• Water
• Food coloring
• Flashlight
• Ice cubes
• Bowl or pan
• Metal spoon
• Iron
• Towel
• Straw or eyedropper
• Paper
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Heat source
• Sunny window
• Thermometers (optional)
• Black and white construction paper (optional)
• Metal cans
• Glass jars
• Styrofoam cup

For the experiment, you’ll also need:

• 3 identical cups
• 3 different materials
• 3 thermometers
• Graduated cylinder or measuring cup

Yep, these activities take some set up. But it’s worth it!! Your third, fourth, of fifth grade students will love it – and so will you!

• Engagement is at an all-time high as kids explore science concepts with hands-on activities.
• When they do it themselves, students truly understand properties of thermal energy.
• Activities address the intent of your standards. For example, if you teach, NGSS 4-PS3-2, you can rest assured that students will understand heat transfer.

Listen to what other educators are saying about these physical science resources.

• “These labs are so engaging. There is some prep needed, but the students loved them and were able to understand the science.” – Louise R.
• “We had a lot of fun doing these as groups and as a class. Students were engaged and curious the whole time!” – Jerome N.

Printable and digital versions of each worksheet are included.

• A PDF provides a traditional pencil and paper option.
• Easel Activities or forced Google Slides offer digital versions.

Looking for more? Check out the forms of energy bundle.

Enjoy teaching!

Brenda Kovich