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Home Education K-12 Lesson Clearinghouse Grades 3-5 Green Energy Challenge Gr.3-5 Black and White Bottle Experiment

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Sustainability Lesson Clearinghouse

Black and White Bottle Experiment

Lesson Description:
Students will be able to…
  • Explain the relationship between color and solar energy absorption and identify ways to use color to harness or repel the sun’s energy.
  • Organize and record data using a variety of graphic representations.
Lesson Type:
  • Other
Sustainability Topic:
  • Energy
GEF Program Category:
  • Green Energy Challenge
Time Needed:
50-60 minutes
Standards Addressed:
Science Standard 9: Understand the sources and properties of energy.
  • Benchmark # 1: Know that heat is often produced as a byproduct when one form of energy is converted to another form.
  • Benchmark # 3: Know that light can be reflected, refracted or absorbed.

Science Standard 12: Understand the nature of scientific inquiry.
  • Benchmark # 3: plan and conduct simple investigations.
  • Benchmark # 5: know that scientists’ explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what they observe and partly from how they interpret their observations.
Materials Needed:
  • one plastic bottle painted white
  • one plastic bottle painted black
  • several small balloons
  • "Black and White Experiment: Prediction, Directions, and Conclusions" worksheet provided below
Submitted By:
Green Education Foundation (GEF)
School or Group:
Green Education Foundation (GEF)
Contact Email:
service@greeneducationfoundation.org
Lesson Documents:
application/pdf BlackandWhite_BottleExperiment.pdf
Lesson Documents:
application/pdf BlackandWhite_Sheet.pdf
Located in: Green Energy Challenge Gr.3-5

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