Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
UNIT: Energy
LESSON # 1
TITLE: The Sun and Temperature
Summary: Children will view a presentation about
NASA Source:
Grade level:
Time:
Children
Learning
Outcomes:
Big Questions:
the sun and how it heats the Earth and
practice using a thermometer.
Adapted from NASA “Our Very Own Star:
The Sun”
<http://stargazers.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf/pro
ducts/books/Sun_booklet_Spanish.htm >
and
<http://stargazers.gsfc.nasa.gov/pdf/pro
ducts/books/Sun_booklet_English.htm>
3-5
Total time: 70 minutes
Snack & introduction:
15 minutes
Slide presentation:
20 minutes
Measuring temperature: 30 minutes
Journal and cleanup:
5 minutes
Children will learn that:
 The sun is our star.
 Temperature can be measured with a
thermometer.
Children will engage in and thereby
strengthen a number of scientific
practices such as:
 Measuring temperature.
 Gathering information by listening
and watching a presentation.
Children will be able to (cultural goals):
 Relate overall science learning goals
to the context of their schools,
families, and community.
 Communicate ideas, collaborate with
other children, and learn in a
personally meaningful way.
 What heats the earth?
 How can you measure how hot or
cold something is?
Lesson format: Multimedia presentation, discussion and
hands-on activity.
Materials:
for slide presentation
Item
Quantity
Internet
connection
Projector
1
for
computer
Connections to these URLs:
http://stargazers.gsfc.nasa.g
ov/pdf/products/books/Sun
_booklet_Spanish.htm
and
http://stargazers.gsfc.nasa.g
ov/pdf/products/books/Sun
_booklet_English.htm
for temperature measurement
Item
Quantity
per trio
Thermometer
1
(Celsius)
Small plastic
cups with hot
2
and cold
water
Red crayon
3
Today’s
temperature
3
handout
Temperature
3
worksheet
Word Wall:
Include following words in
discussion (in both English and
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
National This activity relates to the following
Standards standards from the Next Generation
Addressed: Science Standards:
K-PS3-1. Make observations to
determine the effect of sunlight on
Earth’s surface.
MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts
and describes changes in particle
motion, temperature, and state of a
pure substance when thermal energy is
added or removed.
Spanish), orally defined in
understandable terms, and
visibly displayed. If possible,
project a large image of the
words (and associated pictures)
on the wall of the teaching area.


•


Sun
• Sol
Thermometer • Termómetro
Temperature • Temperatura
Degree
• Grado
Celsius
• Celsius
 Fahrenheit • Fahrenheit
DIRECTIONS:
Overview: This session involves three parts and one take-home activity:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Introduce the lesson.
First, the children will view a web-based slide show on the sun.
Children learn to use a thermometer and measure liquid and air temperature.
Instruction for Take-home Kit/activity.
Steps:
LESSON INTRODUCTION (15 minutes)

At the beginning of the session (during snack, if provided), tell children that today
they will start the energy unit by learning about the sun and how it heats the Earth.
Remind the children that by learning about energy from the sun, they will gain a
better overall understanding of climate change, because the sun provides the energy
that drives our climate.
LESSON LEARNING TASKS (55 minutes)
Our Very Own Star: The Sun (20 minutes)
In this part of the lesson, children will view projections of the online slide show of “Our
Very Own Star: The Sun” twice, once in Spanish and once in English. The facilitators will
read the captions.
 In each small group, after the viewing ask the children to say some of the things that
the sun does for the Earth. Make sure that the fact that the sun heats the Earth is
discussed.
Measuring Temperature (30 minutes)
Facilitator says to children:
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
“A thermometer is an instrument that measures the temperature of things. The name is
made up of two smaller words: "Thermo" means heat and "meter" means to measure.
You can use a thermometer to tell the temperature outside or inside your house, inside
your oven, even the temperature of your body if you are sick!
The red colored or silver line in the middle of the thermometer moves up and down
depending on the temperature. The thermometer measures temperatures in Fahrenheit or
Celsius.”
Steps
1. Separate children in ~4 groups (trio per group).
2. Show children a thermometer. Point out its parts and discuss its purpose. Make a
point of explaining that below zero and above zero and what does this mean (zero
is the freezing point of water on the Celsius scale).
3. Place two containers on the table: one with cold water and the other one with hot
water.
4. Ask children what they think the temperature in ‘each container’ is; both the hot and
the cold. Can they tell temperature just by looking at it? Can they tell by touch?
5. Now experiment both in the hot and the cold water by inserting thermometer
slowly, start with hot water (before it cools) and let it stand for a couple minutes,
read and record the registered temperature on both the colored worksheet and
thermometer sheet.
6. Have children read and record temperatures several times – allow all to experiment!
7. Now open the classroom window or step outside and place a thermometer outside,
let it sit there for 3 minutes or more (tell children not to put the thermometer
directly in the sunlight)!
8. While you are waiting for the thermometer to register, discuss as follows:
Guiding Questions:
• How are your lives affected by the temperatures at different times of the year
in the place where you live?
• Do you practice different sports, dress, eat and do different things due to the
temperature?
9. Have the children retrieve their thermometers and record the outdoor
temperatures.
10. Conclude session by asking what they learned, what new words, share personal
stories on cold and hot experiences!
Journaling and cleanup (5 minutes)
Have children draw something they do outdoors when it is hot or when it is cold. They
should label the drawing hot or cold weather.
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
ASSESSMENT:
 Ongoing, through the discussion and activities: monitor children’s usage and
understanding of words and ideas related to today’s lesson. Ask supporting questions
to encourage children to make connections. Clarify misconceptions.
 Demonstrations of understanding: do any drawings, writing, theater, etc., display
sophisticated, accurate understanding of today’s lesson? Were children able to make
personal connections to the ideas? Were children able to make connections to prior
lessons?
 Take-home work (assessed following week): did children follow through and discuss
the lesson with their families, bring a related show and tell object, and/or make a
drawing/other art project related to today’s lesson? Did discussion around these things
show continuing understanding of the ideas, including making connections to prior
lessons and to community?
 Do children’s understandings, as displayed by their demonstrations of understanding,
questions, and discussion show connections between today’s topic, and the big picture
of the unit topic?
RELATED NASA ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES:
Everyday Classroom Tools: Hello Sun!
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/Hello/hello.html
In this lesson, children track the movement of the sun across the sky.
Everyday Classroom Tools: This is a Stickup!
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/Stick/stick.html
This is a follow-up to Hello Sun! in which children track the movement of shadows as the
sun moves across the sky.
Cool Cosmos: Heat and Temperature
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classroom/light_lessons/thermal/index.html
This is the home page leading to several other webpages background information on heat
energy and temperature and a few simple activities.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The sun provides the vast majority of energy on the Earth. With the exception of relatively
small amounts of energy provided by geothermal sources and by nuclear processes, all heat
and power sources can be traced back to the sun.
The sun radiates energy in all directions. One part in two billion makes it to the Earth. The
sun’s energy travels to the Earth as light, both visible and invisible as in ultraviolet (UV)
and infrared radiation. When that light gets to the Earth, about half of it is reflected back
into space; 20% by clouds, 5% by the atmosphere and 5% from the Earth’s surface. Most of
the rest of the light is absorbed and turned into heat; 20% is absorbed by the atmosphere
and 49%, by the Earth’s surface. A very small percent is converted into chemical energy by
photosynthesis in plants and a very tiny percent is converted directly into electricity by
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
solar cells. This absorbed light energy is converted into heat; which warms the Earth and
its atmosphere. Some of this heat can escape back to space as infrared radiation. However,
greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor trap some of this
infrared radiation and help to warm the Earth.
Many of our fossil fuels and alternative energy sources can be traced back to the sun.
Petroleum and coal are created over long periods of time out of dead plant matter. The
energy in them comes from photosynthesis powered by the sun in the plant matter from
which they were formed. Wind energy comes from moving masses of air. That air was set in
motion by temperature differentials caused by solar heat. Even hydroelectric power comes
from the sun. Evaporation of water powered by solar heating lifts water vapor into clouds
which can precipitate at high elevations. The sun puts potential energy into that water and
the water returns that energy by flowing downhill.
As heat energy is added to substances their temperature rises. Conversely, when heat
energy leaves a substance, the temperature falls. Temperature is actually a measure of the
heat energy density of an object, which, on a molecular scale, is proportional to the average
energy of motion (kinetic energy) of the molecules.
Temperature is measured by various sorts of thermometers, all of which have something
that changes in a regular fashion with temperature. There are three temperature scales in
common use. The Fahrenheit temperature scale was one of the first invented and is still
used only in the United States and a few other countries. In this scale water freezes at 32
degrees and boils at 212 degrees at sea level. Most countries and most scientific labs use
the Celsius temperature scale. In this scale, water freezes at zero degrees and boils at 100
degrees at sea level. The Kelvin scale is also used for some scientific work. The scale is the
same as Celsius but the zero point is placed at the lowest possible temperature called
absolute zero. In this scale water freezes at 273.15 and boils at 373.15 Kelvin.
CULTURAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Energy conforms our universe and everything in it!
The use of energy sources by humans (beyond their own physical capacity) begins with the
energy from the SUN and the discovery of fire!
It is believed that after seeing that curved mirrors were able to concentrate the sun’s rays,
Chinese, Romans and Greeks found that they could use the concentrated energy on any
object. The principle of the so-called "solar heat trap", was further utilized in what is
thought of as the very first attempt to use solar energy to cook!
LESSON CONNECTIONS
This lesson is tied to ideas in other lessons:
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
In Lesson 2 (Albedo and Plants Need Light), children begin an experiment showing what
happens to plants when light is blocked and do a short activity showing how color affects
the heat absorbed from light.
In Lesson 3 (A Model Greenhouse), children experience what happens in a model
greenhouse so that they can better understand what is meant by the greenhouse effect.
In Lesson 4 (Solar Cooking and Fire from the Sun), children build a simple solar oven and
use it to make nachos. While the nachos are cooking, children use a lens to focus sunlight to
burn paper.
In Lesson 5 (Food Energy), children will learn about the energy in food by discussion and
viewing a demonstration of burning a tortilla chip. Then children will learn about their
body’s use of energy by running or jumping rope to burn the number of calories in a tortilla
chip.
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
Temperature Worksheet
Name_____________________ Date_________________
Cold water
Temperature(C)
Hot water
Temperature(C)
Outdoors
Temperature(C)
Developed by CLACE- PI Marina La Grave, Dr. Barry Kluger-Bell and Kristine Johnson
Today’s Temperature
Name_____________________ Date_________________
Color the thermometer with a red
crayon to show today’s temperature.
Today’s
temperature is