Heating Earth’s Surfaces

6th Grade Science

Your Purpose

To perform an experiment to investigate how the sun’s energy

heats different Earth Surfaces (water & land)

PROBLEM• Do water and sand heat and

cool at the same rate?

Factors involved in weather

1. Moving Air2. Water 3. Land 4. Heat from the

sun WRITE THIS DOWN

Weather

The state of the atmosphere at any one time.

Do you agree or disagree?• The sun’s energy can heat the Earth’s

surfaces, even though it is millions of KM away.

• The sun’s energy heats both land and water the same temperature.

• After being heated, land cools faster than water?

• Differences in land and water affect weather and climate?

Why are we learning this?

• The heating and cooling of land and water is one factor of weather.

Each group will have the same materials:

• 50 mL of water• 50 mL of sand (land)• 2 plastic-backed thermometers• 1 graduated measuring cup• 2 white plastic trays to hold the sand and water• 2 clear plastic films to protect the thermometers

from the light.• All groups will use the same heat source – the

lamps in the front of the room.• A timer on the front screen.

PROCEDURE

Here is the procedure we

will follow.

Hypothesis• Think about the statements you either agreed or

disagreed with.• Do you think land and water heat and cool the

same or will they be different?• Why or why not?• Create your hypothesis• Example: If I heat and cool sand and

water, then both sand and water will heat and cool at the same rate because they will both be using the same heat source.

Collecting your data• What will your data prove? • Your data should be used to reach a

conclusion. Based on the results, you should be able to conclude…

• Example: …if there is any difference in the temperatures of the land and water during heating and cooling, and if they are affected differently by the sun’s energy.

Data CollectionTime

MinutesTemperature of

Sand C°Temperature of Water

C°Heat

source?0 N2 Y4 Y6 Y8 Y

10 Y12 N14 N16 N18 N20 N

Graphing Your Results• Organize your data so it makes sense!• What type of graph would you make?• Are we showing changes over time?• YES! Create a double line graph!

Angle of the Sun’s RaysEnergy from the sun strikes Earth most directly near the equator. Near the poles, the same amount of energy is spread out over a larger area.

Greenhouse EffectWhen Earth’s surface is heated, it radiates most of the energy back into the atmosphere as infrared radiation. Much of this energy is held by the atmosphere, warming it.

Some sunlight is absorbed or reflected by the atmosphere. The rest passes through to the surface.

Wrap UpWrite this down

1. Solar energy – energy from the sun – heats the Earth

2. Land heats up and cools off quickly.3. Water needs lots of solar energy to heat up. 4. Water warms slowly but also cools slowly5. Water helps regulate the temperature of the

Earth’s atmosphere.6. Solar energy absorbed by land & water is changed

to heat and radiates back into atmosphere7. Heat cannot transmit through the atmosphere – it

is trapped in a process known as the greenhouse effect.