The Teacher Guide is the driving and unifying component of this unit, Thermal Energy. In this unit, students investigate the phenomenon of thermal energy and how understanding about the flow of thermal energy can lead to the engineering of containers that retain heat well. The subtitle of this unit is How can containers keep stuff from warming up or cooling down? This is a phenomenon that students experience when they compare the heat retaining properties of varying containers. How do things heat up or cool down in an open system? What happens to a substance’s thermal energy in a closed system? Can thinking in terms of substance’s particle help explain the phenomenon of the changes in thermal energy in a system?  This unit allows students start asking questions, formulating explanations, setting up and conducting activities and research, and working with classmates to analyze the shared experience and formulate new questions and developing new strategies for answering them.

CKSci Middle School is an enhanced republication of the OpenSciEd Middle School project–with a unique, integrated Core Knowledge science literacy component.

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