Heating and cooling our school sustainably
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe ways to reduce the need for heating or cooling in a school.
Key learning points
- Thermal insulators can reduce the energy needed to heat a building.
- Improving a building's insulation makes it easier to heat it using only renewable resources.
- Thermostats can control temperature automatically in different rooms and help reduce unnecessary heating.
- The greater the temperature difference between the inside and outside of a house, the faster it warms up or cools down
- Planting near a house increases the outside temperature on cold days and decreases it on hot days
Keywords
Thermal insulator - a material that transfers energy slowly by collisions between moving or vibrating particles
Renewable resource - a resource that will not run out because it is replenished more quickly than we use it up
Thermal conductor - a material that transfers energy quickly by collisions between moving or vibrating particles
Thermostat - a device that can control the heating in part of a building to keep it at a chosen temperature
Common misconception
Winds are cooling because they are moving air that is colder than the surrounding air.
Discuss with pupils how hotter objects heat the air around them, so the temperature difference between them and the air is smaller; and how wind blows away this warmer air. Provide opportunity for them to explain this in their own words.
Teacher tip
Both of the tasks in this lesson are easily adabtable to your own school and may inform, or educate pupils about, a school improvement project. Task B may be carried out for a particular site in school, that pupils could look around and survey.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What happens to the temperature of an hot object’s surroundings when it cools down?
Q2.What is the lowest temperature a hot cup of tea will reach as it cools?
Q3.Put the states of matter into order, starting with the best thermal conductor.
Q4.Put these substances into order, starting with the best thermal insulator.
Q5.Why is woollen top a better insulator than a cotton top?
Q6.On a hot day, how will wrapping a piece of ice in a woollen scarf change how quickly it melts?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Put these substances into order, starting with the best thermal insulator.
Q2.Why is double glazing better at insulating a room than a single glazed window?
Q3.What is a device called that controls the heating (or cooling) system to keep a room at a chosen temperature?
Q4.How does adding insulating strips around the edge of a window that opens help maintain the temperature of a building?
Q5.On a cold day, why does it feel even colder if there is a wind?
Q6.How can trees keep a building cooler on a hot sunny day?
To help you plan your 7 science lesson on: Heating and cooling our school sustainably, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 science lesson on: Heating and cooling our school sustainably, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 science lessons from the Climate change and living sustainably unit, dive into the full secondary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.