Lesson Summary

In this lesson, students discuss some of the basic properties of temperature and heat, and learn different ways in which heat can affect substances. As an example, the students consider sunlight and how it can heat up objects on Earth. They construct a simple device based on the phase change of water from ice to liquid to investigate the effectiveness of different shading materials, as well as the cost-effectiveness of different shade designs. They discuss how MESSENGER uses a sunshade to keep comfortable at Mercury’s distance from the Sun. Essential Question: How can passive cooling methods keep an object at a comfortable temperature?

The MESSENGER spacecraft is equipped with a sunshade that is pointed toward the Sun at all times to keep the spacecraft components at a safe temperature.

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Essential Concepts

• Radiation from the Sun is the main source of energy on Earth. It heats the Earth to a temperature at which life is sustainable.
• Heat can be transmitted via conduction, convection, and radiation.
• Temperature describes the average internal energy of the atoms and molecules of which the substance is composed; it is also a measure of the amount of disorder in the substance.
• When a substance changes phase, its temperature remains the same until all of it has changed its phase: the temperature of ice water can rise only after all the ice has melted.
• When designing a scientific experiment, it is important to consider possible sources of errors and improve on the basic design to reduce these errors.
• In designing devices to be used in practical applications, it is important to take into consideration the cost-effectiveness of the device: the efficiency of the device in solving the problem compared with its total cost.

MESSENGER Mission Connection

MESSENGER uses passive cooling methods such as a sunshade to make sure the spacecraft components can operate in safe temperatures.