This learning resource is available in interactive and printable formats. The interactive worksheet can be played online and assigned to students. The Printable PDF version can be downloaded and printed for completion by hand.
This Grade 4 physical science reading passage explores heat energy transfer aligned to NGSS standard 4-PS3-2 and Disciplinary Core Idea PS3.B. Students learn how heat energy always moves from warmer places to cooler places through two main methods: conduction (by contact) and radiation (without contact). The passage uses accessible, age-appropriate language to explain these foundational concepts through familiar examples like cooking with a metal spoon, warming up in the sun, and ice melting in a glass of water. Audio-integrated features support diverse learners, while the simplified differentiated version provides scaffolded access for students reading below grade level. Spanish translations of both versions ensure accessibility for bilingual learners. Engaging activities including multiple-choice questions, writing prompts, and graphic organizers help students apply their understanding of heat transfer to real-world situations. This resource builds essential background knowledge for hands-on investigations and classroom discussions about energy and thermal processes.
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"Scenic view of the sun setting over sand dunes in the Dubai desert." Image Credit Fabio Partenheimer / Pexels.
Heat energy is the energy that makes things feel warm or hot. Heat energy always moves from warmer places to cooler places. This movement happens in two main ways.
The first way heat moves is by contact, which means things are touching. When you hold a metal spoon in hot soup, the spoon gets warm. The heat from the soup moves into the spoon because they are touching. This is called conduction. The heat travels through the metal until the whole spoon feels warm.
The second way heat moves is without contact. When you stand in the sunshine, you feel warm even though you are not touching the sun. The sun's heat travels through space and air to reach you. This is called radiation. Heat can move through empty space or air without needing to touch anything.
Understanding heat transfer helps explain many everyday events. When you put ice in a glass of water, the water feels cold. This happens because heat from the warmer water moves into the cooler ice. The ice melts as it gains heat energy. When you cook food on a stove, heat moves from the hot burner into the pan by contact. Then the heat moves from the pan into the food. Heat always flows from the warmer object to the cooler object until both reach the same temperature, which is how hot or cold something is.
Heat energy always moves from where?
Cooler places to warmer placesWarmer places to cooler placesDark places to light placesLight places to dark places
What is conduction?
Heat moving through space without touchingHeat moving when things are touchingCold moving into warm objectsLight moving through the air
How does the sun warm you?
By touching your skin directlyBy warming the air onlyThrough radiation without touching youBy conduction through the ground
Why does ice melt in water?
Cold moves from ice to waterHeat moves from water to iceWater pushes on the iceAir warms the ice
What happens when a spoon touches soup?
The soup gets colder immediatelyNothing happens to the spoonHeat moves from soup to spoonThe spoon cools the soup
Heat can move through empty space.
TrueFalse
When does heat stop moving between objects?
When they reach same temperatureWhen they stop touchingAfter exactly five minutesWhen one object disappears
What does temperature measure?
How big something isHow hot or cold something isHow fast something movesHow heavy something is