Lesson 1: Heat Causes Change
Getting Started
Questions to Explore
- What causes change?
- How do changes in the environment affect people?
Facts and Definitions
- Heat is warmth.
- Heat causes change.
- The sun and fire give off heat.
- Molecules are the tiny building blocks that make up solids, liquids, and gases.
- Conduction is the transfer of heat from one molecule to another.
Skills
- Identify that heat causes change, such as ice melting or the sun warming the air, and compare objects according to temperature (S)
- Observe, describe, and record changes in size, mass, color, position, quantity, time, temperature, sound, and movement. (S)
Materials
- colored pencils or markers
- construction paper
- science journal
- scissors and glue
Introduction
Tell your child that he is going to spend the next couple of months learning about change. Ask if he can give some examples of change that he has seen in the world or learned about through books. Discuss that changes can happen naturally or can be caused by humans. For example, weather and growth are examples of natural changes. Changes caused by humans may include changing the environment, changing your location, or changing your attitude or someone else's. Explain that this unit will focus on changes in the environment and how these changes affect people.