STUDENT PROBLEMS - HEAT: CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
SYNOPSIS
This page includes links to a list of example activities where students engage in solving problems designed to promote deeper understanding of the physics of heat.
The example links provide a simple, practical framework and explicit resources to enable teachers to help their students gain deeper scientific understanding about heat.
All activities link directly to the NESA K-10 curriculum outcomes.
HEAT ACTIVITIES
- Each Stage 1-3 activity is designed for one or two hours duration (depending on student level and weather on the day)
- Duration of Kindy and Year 1 activities depend on discretion of the teacher on the day.
- Each activity can be extended or repeated - both within and across grades/stages.
- The activities can be carried out in any order, depending on capabilities of children.
- A list of example student activities/problems follows…
These example activities are designed to take up about 50% of total classroom time.
In general, the first session should introduce a misconception which is discussed along with explicit remedial content. This should be followed by a second session comprised of hands-on activity directly related to the misconceptions and concepts discussed in the earlier session.
Studies have shown that challenging misconceptions by experiment and through discussion can quickly enable them to acquire the necessary concepts to equip them to develop their understanding of thermal physics.