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How could you warm up a frozen playground?

How could you warm up a frozen playground?

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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 Mystery!):

  • 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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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

Extend this lesson

Download this Lesson to your device so you can play it offline: