Students compare a cup of hot tea to a bathtub full of warm water and begin thinking about why the number of molecules matters.

On the left is an image of a small cup of tea. The water inside the teacup is very hot, about

80oC. On the right is an image of a large bathtub. The water inside the bathtub is warm,

about 40oC.

Students read an article that presents a series of comparisons highlighting how the number of molecules affects the total kinetic energy that a thing has.

The comparison in the Warm-Up is similar to the

comparisons that they you need to make

between the two heating systems for Riverdale

School—

one system’s reservoir is smaller but hotter, while

the other system’s reservoir is larger but not as

hot.

In order to choose between these systems, you

will need to figure out which system will transfer

more kinetic energy to air inside the school, since

the temperature of the school will increase more

if more kinetic energy transfers to the air

molecules. To do that, you must begin by thinking

about which system actually has more total

kinetic energy.

Students read an article that presents a series of comparisons highlighting how the number of molecules affects the total kinetic energy that a thing has.

What determines how

much total kinetic energy

something has? You will begin to think about the

Investigation Question by reading

an article about temperature and

thermal energy. You are not

expected to answer the

Investigation Question today; the

goal of this lesson is for you to

become familiar with the article.

Students read an article that presents a series of comparisons highlighting how the number of molecules affects the total kinetic energy that a thing has.

We’ve been using the term

thermal energy throughout

this unit—it’s even the title

of our unit—but we don’t

have a definition of this

term yet. Maybe this article

will help me figure out

what thermal energy is.

The title of this article tells

me that it isn’t

temperature. In that case,

what is it?

Students read an article that presents a series of comparisons highlighting how the number of molecules affects the total kinetic energy that a thing has.

This paragraph talks about

putting ice cubes in hot

soup. I have learned that

when a colder thing

comes into contact with a

warmer thing, the

molecules will collide and

transfer energy from the

warmer thing to the cooler

thing. Therefore, I can infer

that the hot soup will

transfer energy to the ice

cube.

Students read an article that presents a series of comparisons highlighting how the number of molecules affects the total kinetic energy that a thing has.

Reading “Thermal Energy Is

NOT Temperature”. Open the

“Thermal Energy Is NOT

Temperature” article. You can also

find this article in Digital Resources.

Annotate your article as you read.

Students share annotations with their peers and receive a formal definition for the vocabulary term thermal energy.

Reviewing Annotations1. Look over your annotations on the

“Thermal Energy Is NOT Temperature”

article. Pick one or two of your

annotations to share with a partner.

Then, edit them and add #share.2. Discuss the tagged annotations with

your partner. After you have

discussed the annotations with your

partner, edit these annotations by changing the tag to #discussed.

3. Now, choose one of the questions or

connections you already discussed or

a different question or connection

that you still want to discuss with the

class. Edit the annotation and add

#present.

Students share annotations with their peers and receive a formal definition for the vocabulary term thermal energy.

Reviewing Annotations1. Look over your annotations on the

“Thermal Energy Is NOT Temperature”

article. Pick one or two of your

annotations to share with a partner.

Then, edit them and add #share.2. Discuss the tagged annotations with

your partner. After you have

discussed the annotations with your

partner, edit these annotations by changing the tag to #discussed.

3. Now, choose one of the questions or

connections you already discussed or

a different question or connection

that you still want to discuss with the

class. Edit the annotation and add

#present.

Students share annotations with their peers and receive a formal definition for the vocabulary term thermal energy.

Reviewing Annotations1. We have been thinking about

average kinetic energy, which is

temperature. Now we’re going to

think about the total kinetic energy,

which is also called thermal energy.2. Remember that when we find the

average kinetic energy of something,

our first step is to add up all the

energy of its molecules. When you do this first step, you are calculating the

total kinetic energy of that thing. If

you are trying to find the average

kinetic energy, you still have to divide

the total by the number of molecules,

but when you are finding the total,

you can stop after the first step.

Students complete a Sim mission by taking a screenshot of a colder sample that has more thermal energy than a warmer sample.

Sim Mission

ANSWER HERE ANSWER HERE