Heat transfer and sources

Introduce heat (also called thermal energy), and that it can move from place to place.
It can move by Radiation (as waves, like light), Conduction (between materials that are touching) and Convection (flowing in a gas or liquid).
Ask students to rub their hands together to make heat by friction.
Brainstorm on sources of heat.

Do a selection of the activities.

Heat sensitive sheets are super fun and demonstrate conduction and radiation (but are expensive).
Outdoors on a sunny day, the sun heats them up with its radiation. Warm playground equipment or walls can heat them up by conduction. Shadows or cool water make patterns on them.
Indoors, heat lamps heat the sheets up by radiation. By touching classroom surfaces they are cooled down by conduction.

Activities that show different ways that heat can move:
Conduction activity (needs electric kettle, so indoors easiest): heat conduction in different materials.
Convection activity: heat convection demonstration. (can use a thermos of hot water if outdoors).
Convection activity indoors (where there are no drafts): candle heat pinwheel
Radiation demonstration indoors: infra red heat lamp demonstration and free play with heat sensitive sheets.

Both conduction and convection need molecules to transfer the heat energy.
Radiation does not need molecules. The sun is a source of radiation and travels through the vacuum of space to reach Earth.

Heat sources activity.
Show infra red camera images to show sources of infra red radiation (e.g. a house with windows radiating heat, a dog with heat radiating from parts of its body, also IR images of galaxies).