Science / Year 3 / Science Understanding / Physical sciences

Curriculum content descriptions

Heat can be produced in many ways and can move from one object to another (ACSSU049)

Elaborations
  • describing how heat can be produced such as through friction or motion, electricity or chemically (burning)
  • identifying changes that occur in everyday situations due to heating and cooling
  • exploring how heat can be transferred through conduction
  • recognising that we can feel heat and measure its effects using a thermometer
ScOT terms

Heat

Interactive

Thermal comfort – sustainability action process (Years 3–6)

This thermal comfort learning resource will guide students through an extended school based investigation. Students will develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.

Video

For the Juniors: Keeping cool in hot weather

Have you ever wondered why your face turns red when you run around? Discover what's going on under your skin when this happens, and how this helps you keep cool. See some of the clever ways that animals keep cool, too.

Video

Elliot and the Surfing Scientist: Temperature changes the properties of a substance

Substances that are very cold have different properties to substances that are hot. Watch as the Surfing Scientist uses hot and cold water, food colouring and a fish tank to demonstrate what happens when water at different temperatures is mixed together.

Text

Science principles in traditional Aboriginal Australia

This is an illustrated article about how Aboriginal people's traditional knowledge demonstrates an understanding of physics, biology and chemistry and how Aboriginal people gather knowledge through observation, testing, trial and error, adapting and retesting. Written by Kudjala/Kalkadoon Elder from Queensland Letitia ...

Text

The long walk

This set of learning activities challenges students to design shoes using recycled materials. The module includes a comprehensive teacher guide, curriculum links, materials lists, design process guides and printable student resource sheets. The resource also provides an editable module template, is supported by online professional ...

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Cool lunch

In this set of learning activities, students investigate how heat energy from the Sun transfers across a variety of materials, affecting the internal temperature of lunch containers. They conduct experiments to identify materials that absorb or reflect heat and draw on their findings to create, test and justify designs ...

Downloadable

Construct a solar cooker - teacher resource kit

This activity kit encourages students to explore how sunlight can be reflected to concentrate it and raise the temperature, creating a solar oven. Activities are guided by the design thinking process, and scaffolds students to explore solar energy, explore how sunlight can be reflected to concentrate it and raise the temperature ...

Text

Physical world – design and production investigation

In this lesson sequence, students work in pairs to explore how light energy from the sun is converted to heat energy to cook food using a solar oven. They investigate types of solar oven designs while exploring materials that are the most efficient in achieving heat absorption and insulation. Students collect, analyse ...

Interactive

Science Talk 2007: Ruben Meerman

Find out what happens when the ABC's Surfing scientist, Ruben Meerman visits Year 3 at Crown Street Public School with some liquid nitrogen! Ruben shows the Year 3 students what happens to solids and gases when they are cooled and warmed and relates this to real-world phenomena. Ruben also shows the kids some tricks with ...

Interactive

Earth rotation: night and day

Watch an animation of the Earth rotating in space showing day and night, the equinox where locations on Earth experience close to equal hours of daytime and night-time (12 hours) and views of the Earth from above the North and South Poles. Turn an animated model of the Earth to explore how rotation is related to night and ...