Design a Heat Sink

Design your own heat sink with this energetic activity! In the first part of this two-page worksheet, sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students will study a passage that explains the need for heat sinks, focusing on how material choice and shape are used to maximize thermal energy transfer. On the next page, eager engineers will utilize their new knowledge to practice analyzing a problem, interpreting data, designing their own heat sink, and creating a plan to test their solution.

This engaging physical science worksheet serves as an application-based follow-up to foundational lessons on conductors and insulators. Additionally, these tasks align with common core standards by requiring students to apply scientific principles and justify design choices with evidence.

Keep the educational energy going! To learn more about the relationship between energy and heat, Heat Transfers: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation and How Thermal Energy Moves: Conductors and Insulators are great introductory resources for this concept!