The heating power of sunlight
Objectives:
Students describe the results of a single variable experiment. Students make predictions and write conclusions.
Materials:
Focus:
Ask students to name some of the ways the heat of the sun changes things. Show them the chocolate and plastic bags. Ask them to predict (or recall) what happens to chocolate when it gets hot.
Procedure:
Put a few pieces of chocolate into a clear plastic bag and seal it. Put an equal amount of chocolate in a second bag and seal it. Mark one bag "A" and the other "B". Tell students that we will put one bag in the sun outside and the other in shade. Students write down predictions in simple sentences of what they think will occur. What is the only difference between the two bags? (The only difference should be the variable of whether shade or sun.)
Go outside and have the students record which bag has been placed in the sun and which is in the shade. Wait until the chocolate in the sun has melted and then hold both bags next to each other. Have students use adjectives in sentences to write to describe how the chocolate in the sun is now different than the chocolate in the shade. Why did this happen?
Close:
Have students list other things that melt. Have students list other things that sunlight does for us or provides for us. Encourage speculation of what earth would be like without the sun. Relate this lesson to other water vapor and heat experiments.
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