DISCUSS:
What’s one place you’d like to visit in your life? How would you travel there?
DISCUSS:
How could this device be useful?
Exit Full Screen
DISCUSS:
What’s one place you’d like to visit in your life? How would you travel there?
Exit Full Screen
Exit Full Screen
DISCUSS:
How could this device be useful?
Exit Full Screen
In this lesson, students explore how heat is another form of energy that can make things go. In the activity, Heat Spinner, students first make a paper Heat Spinner and observe how air can create movement. Then, students use their Heat Spinners to experiment with a heat source (an incandescent bulb) and discover how heat energy can make the spinner move in different ways.
Student slideshow: English | Spanish
Teacher printout: English & Spanish
After you complete the lesson and activity, try this extension.
How does a hot-air balloon work? Watch this video (1:37), and then read the online book How Does It Fly: Hot Air Balloon to find out. Included in the book are a glossary, creative mini-projects, and questions that can spark class discussions. (Ages 7–9; Both free with registration as an educator on Get Epic!)
When you’re done, take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the sport with this time-lapse video of a hot-air balloon festival in New Mexico. Watch for the bursts of flame that heat the air in each craft’s “envelope,” and see the sky fill with colorful, gigantic balloons. (2:42, NatGeo)
After you complete the lesson and activity, try this extension.
Can you make a penny move without touching it? Set up this simple Penny Popper activity station in your classroom to find out.
Print out the instructions here .
See an example of the penny moving and a variation on the experiment setup in this teacher video. (1:36, Keith Ramsay)
After you complete the lesson and activity, try this extension.
Check out this clip (1:20, Ultimate Restorations) to see how steam can make a train go. Then find out what it’s like to be a train engineer and fireman in this video (3:31) about driving the Detroit and Lima Northern Locomotive Number 7, a steam-powered locomotive.
If you want to go further, have students read this article to explore the history of the steam engine and its importance during the Industrial Revolution. A recording and quiz are included.
Then discuss: Imagine you’re living in the 1800s and can ride trains for the first time. How would you feel about traveling this new way? How do you think your life might change?
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