Students who demonstrate understanding can: Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.*
Clarification statement: Examples of devices could include an insulated box, a solar cooker, and a Styrofoam cup.
Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total amount of thermal energy transferred.
Official wording from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013). NGSS is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the NGSS were involved in the production of this page, and they do not endorse it. View on nextgenscience.org
Thermal energy always flows from warmer things to cooler things, through conduction, convection and radiation. Engineers either fight that flow or use it. A lunch cooler and a coffee cup sleeve are designed to slow it down. A solar cooker is designed to collect as much energy from sunlight as possible and trap it inside.
Students apply these principles to build and test a device of their own. To keep ice from melting, they choose insulating materials with trapped air, such as foam, cotton batting or bubble wrap, close gaps that let warm air in, and use shiny surfaces to reflect radiant energy. To heat food with sunlight, they line a box with reflective foil to direct light inward, use a dark surface to absorb it, and add a clear cover to stop warm air escaping.
Testing means measuring temperature over time and comparing designs fairly. Students are not asked to calculate the total thermal energy transferred; they judge success by temperature data and the criteria they set.
A coat or foam box adds no energy. It slows the transfer of thermal energy, which is why the same foam keeps ice cold and soup hot.
Students say cold gets into a drink. In fact thermal energy flows out of the warmer object; cooling is a loss of thermal energy.
Metal and wood in the same room are the same temperature. Metal feels colder because it conducts thermal energy away from your hand faster.
Dark surfaces absorb more radiant energy, which suits a solar cooker, but they would be a poor choice for the outside of a cooler sitting in the sun.
Design A is a cardboard box. Design B is the same box lined with foam and wrapped in foil. An ice cube in A melts in 40 minutes; in B it lasts 95 minutes. Explain the result and suggest an improvement.
Answer: Design B slowed conduction (foam) and radiation (foil), keeping the ice 55 minutes longer; sealing gaps to reduce convection should improve it further.
Give each team the same ice cube size, a materials budget and a time limit. Teams predict which materials will work best, build, then record melting time or temperature every few minutes. A class graph of results sparks discussion of which transfer method each material blocked.
Questions may describe a design and ask which change would most reduce heat loss, or provide test data and ask which design best met the criteria. Students should name the transfer method each feature addresses.
Original questions written for this standard. Choose an option or type your answer, then press Check. Every question has a worked explanation.
Answer: B) Foam with trapped air pockets
Trapped air is a poor conductor, so foam slows thermal energy transfer. Metals conduct thermal energy well.
Answer: C) Dark surfaces absorb more radiant energy
Dark surfaces absorb more of the light that hits them, turning it into thermal energy that cooks the food.
Answer: convection
Convection is transfer by the movement of a fluid, such as air or water.
Answer: A) Metal conducts thermal energy away from your skin faster
Both benches are the same temperature, but metal is a better conductor, so it draws energy from your skin faster.
Answer: B) The starting size of the ice and the room conditions
Only the design should differ. The ice size, starting temperature and surroundings must match.
Answer: cooler (also accepted: colder)
Thermal energy always flows from warmer to cooler objects until they reach the same temperature.
Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a closed system results in a more uniform energy distribution among the components in the system (second law of thermodynamics).
A full lesson with slides, activities and an exit ticket on designing for thermal energy transfer, pitched to grades 6-8 and editable in PowerPoint or Google Slides.
Make a lesson βA printable, differentiated worksheet on MS-PS3-3 with an answer key, ready in about a minute.
Make a worksheet βTurn designing for thermal energy transfer into a quiz students answer online that marks itself, with a class summary for you.
Build a test βInsulated boxes, coolers, solar cookers, cup sleeves and lunch bags are common choices. The device must either minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer.
No. The assessment boundary excludes calculating the total thermal energy transferred; temperature data and design reasoning are enough.