Science Assessment ~ Ideas ~ The energy released from food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).

Key Idea: The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of a matter sample by a given amount depends on the nature of the matter, the size of the sample, and the environment.

Students should know that:

Two objects (or quantities of a solid, liquid or gas) must be in contact with each other for energy to be transferred by conduction. Energy can also be transferred from one part of an object to another by conduction. Energy cannot be transferred by conduction from one object to another if the objects are separated by a vacuum (empty space with no matter).
The energy transferred by conduction goes from the warmer matter to the cooler matter not from the cooler matter to the warmer matter.
As energy is transferred from the warmer to the cooler matter by conduction, the thermal energy (and temperature) of the warmer matter will decrease and the thermal energy (and temperature) of the cooler matter will increase until the objects or samples are at the same temperature. [This sub-idea assumes that neither object or sample of matter changes state, in which case the temperature would not increase or decrease while the change of state was occurring.]
The amount of energy transfer needed to change the temperature of an object or sample of matter depends on the type of matter and the amount of matter present.

Boundaries:

Items do not ask students to make calculations about how much energy is transferred by conduction (e.g. they will not be asked to make calculations given mass, heat capacity, and temperature).
Assessment items assume a net transfer of energy from the warmer object to the colder object without referring to it as a net transfer.
Contexts of assessment items will be limited to those that do not involve changes of state.

Percent of students answering correctly (click on the item ID number to view the item and additional data)
Item ID Number	Knowledge Being Assessed	Grades 6–8	Grades 9–12
AP005008	Evaluate the thermal properties of a coating to minimize how much a spacecraft's temperature changes as it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. Explain trends in data, observed at the macroscopic scale, using energy concepts and relationships applied at the molecular scale.	N/A	N/A
AP003006	Identify plausible explanations of experimental data on temperature changes for two coolants. Evaluate an experiment to determine which coolant is better to use in an engine.	N/A	N/A
AP044006	Design an experiment to determine which water bottle design minimizes the amount of thermal energy that is transferred from the bottle’s contents to the surroundings.	N/A	N/A

No misconceptions are associated with this idea in the selected project.

No NGSS statements are associated with this idea in the selected project.