Energy
Transfer and Transformation:
The Urban Heat Island Effect
Katherine
Porter
2003-2004 CSIP Fellow
This lesson is
designed to be introduce high school students to physical
concepts they will need to understand in order to design
and conduct investigations related to the "Urban Heat
Island Effect" (UHI). The UHI effect refers to the
observation that surface air temperatures above urban centers
tend to be higher than those above surrounding suburban
and rural areas. A primary cause is thought to be that the
construction of cities typically involves replacing light-colored
materials such as grass and trees with dark-colored materials
such as asphalt and tar shingles.
In this lesson,
students will be introduced to the concepts of reflection
and absorption as they relate to light energy, and they
will learn about energy transfer and transformation. The
final parts of the lesson describe possible steps to introduce
a study of the UHI effect and to help the students design
and execute appropriate procedures for a study of this effect.
Downloadable
files:
Teacher's
Guide
Student Materials:
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