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How could you warm up a frozen playground?
Sunny Skies Unit | Lesson 2 of 3

How could you warm up a frozen playground?

Sunny Skies Unit | Lesson 2 of 3
Lesson narration:
Scroll for prep
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What`are`some`hot
things`you’ve
touched`on`a`summer
day?

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Have`you`ever`seen
anything`melt`in
the`sun?

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DISCUSS:

How could you bring the sun’s light and heat to this town? (Hint: You can’t move the sun, but is there a way to move the sunshine?)

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Extensions

Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity and exploration you just completed.
  • Lesson Assessment : Open-ended drawing prompt
  • Readings: Three informational books about sunlight, temperature, and staying cool in the summer.
  • Video: News footage from Rjukan, Norway.
  • Activities: Further investigations of the relationship between temperature and sunlight.
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# Readings

These online books are free for educators registered on Epic!:

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# Video

Show students a news report about the real town of Rjukan, Norway that inspired the activity for this lesson.

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Activities

With these activities, students can investigate how to make a hot place colder (the opposite of our lesson!):

  • Cool Trees -- Measure the effect of shade trees on temperature in this activity from the Lawrence Hall of Science.
  • Melting Chocolate -- Observe how quickly chocolate melts in the sun and the shade from NOAA.
  • Black, White, or Silver? Investigate which color is heated most by sunlight in this activity from Origin Energy.
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light


1 of 14

what comes from the Sun and lamps and makes it possible to see things
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Sun


2 of 14

the large ball of light in the sky during the day
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sunlight


3 of 14

light from the Sun
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shade


4 of 14

a dark, cool place that is not directly in the sunlight
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shadow


5 of 14

a dark shape made when an object is in front of a light source
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mirror


6 of 14

an object so shiny that light bounces off of it
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warm


7 of 14

to make something hotter
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summer


8 of 14

one of the four seasons, the warmest season in some places
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winter


9 of 14

one of the four seasons, the coldest season in some places
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design


10 of 14

to make a plan for creating or doing something
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inventor


11 of 14

someone who comes up with something new, often an object or a way of doing something
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engineer


12 of 14

a person who uses science to come up with solutions to problems
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model


13 of 14

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
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experiment


14 of 14

a test used to discover new information about a question
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Lesson narration:

Grade K

Sunlight & Warmth

Sunlight, Warming, & Engineering

K-PS3-2, K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-3

639 reviews

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students think about their experiences with hot and cold weather, and learn about a real city where the sun never shines in winter. In the activity, Chill City, students experiment with different types of materials (opaque, transparent, and reflective) to figure out how to reflect light. They use this to bring light and warmth to an imaginary paper town.

Preview activity

Exploration

7 mins

Wrap-Up

3 mins

Grade K

Sunlight & Warmth

Sunlight, Warming, & Engineering

K-PS3-2, K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-3

639 reviews
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