Grades 4–5
Conduction, Convection or Radiation?
Learn the three ways heat moves, then sort nine examples.
Science worksheet · Heat and temperature
Keep It Cold Challenge
Wrap ice cubes in foil, cloth, newspaper and nothing, check them every 15 minutes and find the best insulator.
- Grade level
- Grades 3–5
- Time
- About 45 minutes
- Topic
- Heat and temperature
- Answer key
- Not needed: answers vary
- Kids practice
- Heat and temperature, Conductors and insulators, How heat moves
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- An insulator slows down heat. Wrap four same-size ice cubes: one in foil, one in a sock, one in newspaper and one in nothing. Put them on plates in the same warm spot and check every 15 minutes.
- I predict the ice cube that lasts longest will be wrapped in
- Write: solid, half melted or all water.
- Which was the best insulator? How could you use it to keep your lunch cold?
Words on this sheet
TimeFoilSockNothingStart
Teacher tip
Wrap the ice the same way each time and check on a timer.
How to use it
- Let kids feel a metal spoon and a wooden spoon in warm water.
- Read a thermometer together before and after.
- Start with a two-minute “I notice, I wonder” talk about the picture on the sheet.
Watch for
Coats don’t make heat. They keep body heat in.
Talk about it
- Why do we wear coats in the cold?
- How could we find out if that is true?
Take it further
Design a lunch box that keeps food cold the longest.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More heat and temperature worksheets
Grades 1–3
What Gives Off Heat?
Color the seven things that give off heat, X the five that do not, then fill in a sentence about friction.
Grades 3–5
Which Spoon Gets Warm?
An experiment: put metal, plastic and wooden spoons in warm water and find out which carries heat best.
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