Raven and Rocket eat lunch on the school steps. The sunny step feels warm. The shady step feels cool.
"Same steps, same stone," Rocket says. "Why is one warmer?"
Raven moves her hand from shadow into sunlight. "What do you notice on your skin?"
Nova shades her eyes with one metal wing. "My hint," she says. "Think about what is landing on the sunny step and not the shady one."
Light energy travels in waves. Sunshine is light energy from the Sun.
When sunlight lands on a step, a sidewalk or your skin, it transfers energy and warms it.
The shady step gets less sunlight, so it gets less energy and stays cooler.
Never look straight at the Sun. Feel its energy on your skin instead.
Heat is energy moving from a warmer thing to a cooler thing.
A warm mug slowly cools down because it gives its heat to the air around it.
When heat moves between two things that touch, it is called conduction.
A metal pan on a stove gets hot. Heat moves through the metal to the handle. That is conduction.
That is why only grown-ups handle pans on the stove.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Sunlight can transfer energy and warm a step. | ? |
| A warm mug gives its heat to the cooler air. | ? |
| Heat moves from cool things to warm things. | ? |
| Conduction is heat moving between things that touch. | ? |
Heat always moves from the warmer thing to the cooler thing.
Hold an ice cube, and heat moves from your warm hand into the ice. Your hand feels cold.
Hold a warm mug, and heat moves from the mug into your hand. Your hand feels warm.
The direction depends on which thing is warmer.
You followed light and heat today. Tomorrow we follow energy through wires.