A number of practical teaching/learning resources are available in this wiki to help you teach/learn heat concepts. Including:

• Some problems for students to solve
• Some practical, heat related, teaching/learning resources

All of the evidence shown that children bring strong, pre-existing, personal concepts about the physical world with them when they start school.

Despite being contrary to modern scientific understanding, studies show that, without intervention, these misconceptions persist throughout our lives. ²⁾

The content of the HEAT unit draws primarily on research by Dr Derek Muller (Sydney University) ³⁾ and the Private Universe Project in Science - a collaboration between multiple research institutions, including Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, MIT, Rutgers SUNJ and Annenberg Media ⁴⁾ and UC Berkely ⁵⁾

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By challenging 'intuitive' scientific misconceptions and instead focusing on deep, 'difficult' scientific principles, even at a very young age, research shows that students make huge gains in both short-term and lifetime understanding of scientific concepts, and in an ability to generalise their problem solving and creative abilities.

Many students when asked what heat is, can not go beyond a statement “Heat is a form of energy”.

Table 1. Misconception-based discussion topics for deeper understanding about heat and temperature:

1. There are two types of heat, hot and cold (cold heat and hot heat)?
2. Heat is a material substance like air or steam?
3. Heat is a form of energy?
4. Heat is hot, but temperature can be cold or hot?
5. Some substances are naturally colder than others?
6. Heat and cold are opposite and both are fluid materials?
7. The temperature of an object is related to its size?
8. If two liquids are mixed, temperature of the mixture is the sum of both temperatures?
9. There is no difference between heat and temperature (heat and temperature are the same)?
10. Temperature will change during melting or boiling?
11. Heat transfer starts and does not stop at once when the temperature equalised?
12. Air only cools other bodies if they are surrounded by air?
13. Temperature is the amount of heat?
14. If two bodies are at the same temperature they have the same energy or heat?
15. Heat enters and leaves different materials with different ease?
16. Different materials attract heat or retain heat differently?
17. Objects at room temperature that feel cold have different temperatures?
18. Objects could have a certain quantity of heat in them?
19. Objects could get hotter than their surroundings?
20. The temperature of water could exceed the boiling point?
21. Constant heat means no heat exchange possible?
22. Heat is a ‘state quantity’ (something in a body)?
23. Metals attract, hold, or absorb cold?
24. Conductors conduct heat more slowly than insulators?
25. Insulators conduct heat fast and heat leaves so insulators don’t feel hot?
26. Insulators absorb/trap heat Wool warms things?
27. Heat is attracted by the cold body until heat and cold have neutralised?
28. Heat is not an 'extensive' quantity, but an 'intensive' quantity?

Every teaching activity is explicitly linked to the NESA NSW K-10 Curriculum framework, but instead of launching straight into instruction, each activity starts with the examination of a misconception. This questioning is intended to uncover the existing conceptual ideas that students/teachers bring to the classroom at the start of the teaching process.

We use misconceptions only as a path to discover and challenge student/teachers scientific misconceptions. To then leverage their natural curiosity and interest in science by helping them to devise their own rigorous way of way of representing,, investigating, understanding and solving authentic scientific problems.

1. Start with a question (ideally, a misconception).
2. Allow students time to struggle (ensure students invest effort)
3. The teacher is not the answer key (be less helpful - do not give answers / strategies)
4. Say 'yes' to student ideas ('do not say 'correct' or 'wrong' - what if 2 + 2 = 12, let's explore the consequences?)
5. Pose problems (The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution - Albert Einstein)

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The activities in this wiki are intended to help uncover, challenge and stimulate development of each student's own mathematical ideas and strategies; To help make their understanding and thinking more visible and powerful through the collaboration and communication required to convince others as they develop their solution(s) to each problem.

The end-goal of each activity is to encourage a deep understanding and consequent ability to generalise strategies to solve real-world problems in a real-world context.

• Students take 'ownership' of each problem.
• It is essential that teachers do not offer strategies or solutions, but students are encouraged to copy, discuss, share their own strategies and solutions and convince their peers.
• There are no 'right/wrong' strategies and/or 'right/wrong' answers but students must convince the teacher/others by providing a convincing arguments (proof).

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Focusing on the development and teaching of K-12 science education, this is the longest evidence-based study of its type ever undertaken.

There are on-line videos, workshop guides and related resources. ⁶⁾.

The Private Universe Project in Science demonstrates and honours the power and sophistication of these ideas, and explores how science teaching can be structured to resonate with children's sophisticated thinking.

The project resources and videos offer a rare opportunity to follow the development of students throughout grades 1-12, and to observe teachers in the process of redefining what science is for themselves and for their students. ^{7) 8)}