Unit 06 · Heat & Thermal Energy
Heat and temperature feel like the same thing, but they aren’t — and this unit is where that difference finally clicks. Temperature tells you how hot something is; heat is energy moving from a warmer thing to a cooler one. You’ll follow that energy as it travels three ways — conduction through a metal spoon, convection in a pot of water, radiation from a warm lamp — and watch thermal energy spread until two things reach the same temperature. Mastery means you can tell heat apart from temperature and explain how energy gets from one place to another.
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature vs. heat | Uses “heat” and “temperature” to mean the same thing. | Defines each but confuses them in an example. | Explains that temperature measures how hot something is while heat is energy on the move, and keeps the two straight. |
| Conduction, convection & radiation | Cannot name a way that heat travels. | Names the three ways but cannot match them to real cases. | Identifies conduction, convection, and radiation in everyday situations and explains each one. |
| Thermal energy & heat flow | Thinks cold moves into warm things. | Knows heat flows but not which direction. | Shows that heat always flows from the warmer thing to the cooler one until their temperatures even out. |
| Predicting heat transfer | Cannot say what will warm up or cool down. | Predicts a direction but not a reason. | Predicts how heat will move through a setup and explains the path it takes. |
| Lab technique (heat transfer) | Misreads the thermometer or ignores the reading. | Records temperatures but at uneven times. | Measures temperature change over time cleanly and links it to how the heat traveled. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit to its anchor across History · Reading · Writing (plus chosen electives) and defends why the connection matters. |
“The metal spoon felt colder than the wooden one, but both were room temperature — the metal just pulls heat out of my hand faster, by conduction. Heat always moves from the warmer thing to the cooler one, so my warm hand loses energy to the spoon, not the other way around.”
“The metal spoon is colder than the wooden one — you can feel it. Cold moves into your hand from the metal, I think.”
You demonstrate this unit through hands-on heat-transfer setups — a warming spoon, a beaker on a hot plate — measuring temperature over time and explaining how the energy traveled aloud, not a multiple-choice test. A criterion counts as mastered only when you can both take the reading and tell heat apart from temperature. Mastery is demonstrated, not awarded.
A 5-page clipboard packet — unit overview, key terms, the mastery rubric, anchor examples, and a score sheet you can print and grade against.