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Heat Transfer: Three Ways Heat Moves

Students learn the three ways thermal energy travels — conduction through touch, convection through moving fluids, and radiation through empty space — and spot each one in everyday life.

Grade 6Energy55 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Explain conduction (touch).
  • ✓Explain convection (fluids).
  • ✓Explain radiation (waves).
  • ✓Identify each type in real life.
Essential Question

A spoon heats up in soup, soup bubbles as it boils, and the Sun warms your face from 93 million miles away. Is that all the same kind of heat moving?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Heat Explorer · Interactive

The Heat Explorer

Project this and tap each way heat moves. Have students record how each works and think of an everyday example.

🔥 Explore the three ways heat moves — tap eachTry it

The Lesson · 5E Model

55 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Three Ways

5 min

Spoon in soup, boiling water, the Sun — same heat, or different?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show three heat examples.
  • Ask if the heat moves the same way.
  • Set the goal: heat transfer.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Compare the examples.
  • Wonder about the ways.
  • Predict the types.
2

Explore — Explore the Ways

12 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Heat Explorer.
  • Tap each type.
  • Record how it works.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each type.
  • Record how it works.
  • Name an example.
3

Explain — Conduction, Convection, Radiation

13 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Conduction = touch (solids).
  • Convection = currents (fluids).
  • Radiation = waves (space).

🎒 Student Actions

  • Explain conduction.
  • Explain convection.
  • Explain radiation.
4

Elaborate — Spot It

12 min

Apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Give scenarios; name the type.
  • Explain a real example of each.
  • Design a way to keep heat in/out.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name the type.
  • Give an example.
  • Design a solution.
5

Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for the three types.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a type.
  • Explain it.
  • Give an example.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy. State-standard crosswalks available on request.

NGSS
MS-PS3-3

Apply scientific principles to design a device to minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer.

NGSS
MS-PS3-4

Plan an investigation to determine relationships among energy, mass, and temperature.

NGSS
MS-PS1-4

Develop a model that describes changes in particle motion with thermal energy.

CCSS
RI.6.3

Analyze how a key idea is introduced and developed in a text.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Heat-type picture examples.
  • Sentence frame: “This is ___ because heat moves by ___.”
  • Feel conduction (a warm spoon).

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with conduction (touch) and radiation (Sun).
  • Use clear examples.
  • Match example to type.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Design a thermos (keep heat in).
  • Explain convection currents in weather.
  • Rank materials as conductors/insulators.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻The Heat Explorer
  • 🥄A metal spoon
  • 🌡️A thermometer
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

thermal energythe energy of heatheat transferheat moving from place to placeconductionheat through direct touchconvectionheat through moving fluidsradiationheat as waves through spaceconductorlets heat pass easilyinsulatorslows heat transfercurrenta flow in a fluid
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
A metal spoon gets hot in soup. Which type of heat transfer is that?
Conduction (direct touch).
QUESTION 2
How does the Sun’s heat reach Earth through empty space?
By radiation (heat waves).
QUESTION 3
What type of heat transfer makes boiling water bubble and circulate?
Convection (warm water rises, cool water sinks).

Going deeper? Design a thermos.

Have students design a container to keep a drink hot the longest, using what they know about conduction, convection, and radiation. A printable thermos-design sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Heat TransferFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Heat TransferQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Heat TransferPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: conduction, conductor, convection, current, heat transfer, insulator, radiation, thermal energy
  1. heat through direct touch
  2. lets heat pass easily
  3. heat moving from place to place
  4. heat as waves through space
  5. the energy of heat
  6. heat through moving fluids
  7. slows heat transfer
  8. a flow in a fluid

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. A metal spoon gets hot in soup. Which type of heat transfer is that?
  2. How does the Sun’s heat reach Earth through empty space?
  3. What type of heat transfer makes boiling water bubble and circulate?
Answer key — Part A: 1) conduction · 2) conductor · 3) heat transfer · 4) radiation · 5) thermal energy · 6) convection · 7) insulator · 8) current
Part B: 1) Conduction (direct touch). 2) By radiation (heat waves). 3) Convection (warm water rises, cool water sinks).