Heat Moves From Hot to Cold

Heat Moves From Hot to Cold: Grade 4 Science Worksheet

Why does hot cocoa cool down? Heat always moves from a hotter thing to a colder thing, so the hot thing cools and the cold thing warms. Students find the hotter thing and circle the way heat moves for hot cocoa, an ice pack, soup, and a popsicle. Then they decide whether cocoa, a juice box in the sun, and water with ice get warmer or cooler.

Key Science Vocabulary

• heat: energy that moves from hot to cold
• temperature: how hot or cold something is
• heat flow: heat moving from one thing to another
• warmer: gaining heat
• cooler: losing heat

What Students Do

• Read a three-line teach box on heat flow
• Part A: four picture rows; circle which way heat moves
• Part B: three picture rows; circle warmer or cooler
• Answer key with a red reason line

Standards

Florida SC.4.P.11.1: Recognize that heat flows from a hot object to a cold object and that heat flow may cause materials to change temperature. Builds toward NGSS MS-PS3-3 (thermal energy transfer).

Where It Fits in Grades 3 to 8

Earlier grades describe things as hot or cold. Grade 4 shows that heat moves from hot to cold. In middle school, this grows into thermal energy, conduction, convection, and radiation.

Teaching Tip

Have students hold an ice cube for a few seconds. Ask what moved: cold into the hand, or heat out of the hand? Prints clearly in black and white and takes 8 to 10 minutes.