National Science Teachers Association

Phenomena for Inquiry: Solar Energy

Author(s): David May
Source: Science and Children, Vol. 17, No. 2 (October 1979), p. 56
Published by: National Science Teachers Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43162221
Accessed: 10-06-2016 02:47 UTC
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Inquiry

Solar Energy

This column encourages students to

ask questions and explore everyday

events and objects. Send your ideas to

John Whitmer, Chemistry Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington 98225.

Irwin Slesnick, the co-editor, is on sab-

batical leave during the 1979-80 school

year.

same? faster? or slower?

If one side of the jar were painted

black and turned away from the direction of the light, would the temperature change be affected? What if the jar

were painted all black? All white?

Would results be the same if you used

a plastic instead of glass jar?

All the activities are heating experiments and may be affected by the time
of day. How could you control this time
variable?

Heat energy is only one of many

water. Set it in a corner o your

Put water. classroomclassrooma thermometer Set it out
out
in a ofof
in corner
the
the asunglass o jar until
your until of
the temperature is constant. Now put the

jar in direct sunlight. How much does

the temperature change? How fast does

the temperature change?

Would the temperature change be the

energy of motion- is another. Could this

solar energy in the form of heat be

transformed, at least partly, into

mechanical energy? Devices which do

this are called "heat engines." Can you

think of examples of heat engines?

empty jar? Higher? Lower?

Could solar energy be converted into

electrical energy? David May, Whitman

If you added food coloring to the water would the temperature change be the

Walla Walla, Washington.

same if you put the thermometer into an

I Mary Villarejo

forms of energy. Mechanical energy^

College, Department of Educatkm,

Science and Children October 1979

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