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6th grade · Science · Unit 4 of 6

Thermal Energy & Insulation

Heat flow, temperature and keeping things warm or cold.

What your child practices

Practices how thermal energy moves from warmer to cooler objects, how mass and material affect temperature change, and how to design a device that slows heat transfer.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: MS-PS3-3; MS-PS3-4 · designing to reduce heat transfer, and how mass and material affect temperature change

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Thermal energy always flows from warmer objects to cooler ones.
  2. Conduction: heat moves through touching things. Convection: heat moves with flowing liquids or gases.
  3. Radiation: heat travels as waves, like warmth from the sun.
  4. Insulators, like thick cooler walls, slow heat flow.

Example: Warm air rises from a heater and spreads through a room. Which kind of heat flow is this? Heat is carried by moving air, a gas. Heat moving with a flowing gas or liquid is convection. Answer: convection

Thermal Energy & Insulation in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 4 of 6 in 6th grade Science, after Cells: Life's Building Blocks and before Engineering Design.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which needs more energy to heat by 10 °C?

    • 1 g of water
    • 1 kg of water
    • 10 g of water
    • 100 g of water

  2. Question 2

    Heat moving by flowing liquids or gases is…

    • conduction
    • radiation
    • convection
    • reflection

  3. Question 3

    Temperature measures the average…

    • motion energy of particles
    • weight of a substance
    • color of a substance
    • size of particles

  4. Question 4

    Double-pane windows save energy because…

    • they block all light
    • they make heat
    • the gap between panes slows heat transfer
    • they are heavier

  5. Question 5

    Which is a good insulator?

    • Aluminum
    • Foam
    • Iron
    • Copper

  6. Question 6

    Sand and water get the same sunlight. Sand gets hotter faster because…

    • water is magnetic
    • sand is wet
    • sand needs less energy to change temperature
    • water reflects all light

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