Students who demonstrate understanding can: Plan an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, the type of matter, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample.
Clarification statement: Examples of experiments could include comparing final water temperatures after different masses of ice melted in the same volume of water with the same initial temperature, the temperature change of samples of different materials with the same mass as they cool or heat in the environment, or the same material with different masses when a specific amount of energy is added.
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
Add the same amount of energy to two samples and they will not always warm by the same amount. How much the temperature changes depends on three things: how much energy is transferred, how much matter there is, and what kind of matter it is. Temperature itself is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles.
More mass means the energy is shared among more particles, so the temperature rises less. A full kettle takes longer to boil than one with a cup of water in it. Different substances also respond differently: sand at the beach heats up much faster in the sun than the sea next to it, because water needs more energy to raise its temperature by each degree.
Students plan investigations that test one of these factors at a time. For example, they might melt different masses of ice in equal volumes of warm water, or heat equal masses of water and oil on the same hot plate. Planning includes deciding what to measure, what to keep constant and how to record data. Total energy calculations are not required.
A bathtub of warm water has more thermal energy than a cup of hot tea, even though the tea is at a higher temperature, because the bath has far more particles.
Equal masses of sand and water in the same sunlight warm by very different amounts. The type of matter matters.
For the same energy input, a larger mass shows a smaller temperature change because the energy is spread across more particles.
If both mass and material change, you cannot tell which caused the difference. Plans must change one variable at a time.
Plan a test of whether the mass of water affects how much its temperature rises when given the same amount of energy, and predict the result.
Answer: Change only the mass of water, heat each sample for the same time with the same heater, measure the temperature rise, and expect larger masses to warm less.
Use identical cups, a kettle of warm water and measured ice cubes, or equal masses of water and vegetable oil under the same lamp. Let students write their own plan first, then trade with another group to check for uncontrolled variables before running it.
Assessment items often describe an investigation and ask which variable must be controlled, or give a data table and ask what it shows about mass or material. Keep vocabulary sharp: energy transferred, mass, type of matter, temperature change.
Original questions written for this standard. Choose an option or type your answer, then press Check. Every question has a worked explanation.
Answer: A) 100 g
The same energy is shared among fewer particles in 100 g, so its temperature rises more.
Answer: D) Different types of matter change temperature by different amounts with the same energy
Sand and water receive similar sunlight, but water needs more energy for each degree of temperature change.
Answer: kinetic (also accepted: motion, kinetic energy)
Temperature tells us the average kinetic (motion) energy of the particles in a sample.
Answer: B) Heat 100 g of water and 100 g of oil on the same hot plate for 5 minutes
Only the material changes; mass, heater and time stay the same.
Answer: A) The swimming pool
The pool is cooler but contains vastly more particles, so its total thermal energy is much larger.
Answer: mass (also accepted: the mass, mass of the sample, mass of water)
Mass is the factor deliberately changed, so it is the independent variable.
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 energy, mass and temperature change, pitched to grades 6-8 and editable in PowerPoint or Google Slides.
Make a lesson βA printable, differentiated worksheet on MS-PS3-4 with an answer key, ready in about a minute.
Make a worksheet βTurn energy, mass and temperature change into a quiz students answer online that marks itself, with a class summary for you.
Build a test βNo. The assessment boundary excludes calculating the total thermal energy transferred. Students plan investigations and describe relationships.
Temperature reflects the average motion of particles. Thermal energy depends on that motion and on how many particles there are, so a large cool object can hold more thermal energy than a small hot one.