G3-Heat and Light Lowerlight-02

Whoa! It’s really hot today. It sure is different from the last time you were here. You and your family come here every few months. It’s a great place to hike. There are lots of hills and rock ridges. You also get to see many animals on these long hikes. You don’t see any animals outside today. You think it may be too hot for them. You are even wondering if it is too hot for you.

“Let’s get something cool to drink,” you say to your parents.

“That sounds great,” your father says back. You follow him over to a group of rocks. The rocks are really big and they block the Sun. You and your family stand in the shade and have a drink.

“How far have we walked?” your older sister asks annoyed.

“I know it’s hot today. We probably should take a different way for our hike. We can take the other path through the canyon,” your father explains.

You normally don’t like the canyon path, but today it will be welcomed. The area you are in is high in the mountains. Warm days in our valley at home are cooler than this. During the winter months the hikes can feel freezing. The last thing you normally want to do is walk in the shade. On cool days, the warm Sun feels great. On a hot day like today, shade sounds great.

You learned in Science class that the Sun provides Earth with energy. Some of that energy comes in the form of light. Some of it comes in the form of heat. It’s actually pretty common that objects that give off light also give off heat. You once tried to change a light bulb while it was on. Ouch! Light bulbs get very hot. Can you think of some other things that give off both light and heat?

When light hits an object, it warms it. Sunlight warms Earth’s surface or outer layer even on cold days. You use this knowledge when you hike on colder days. You look for the large dark boulders that are in full sunlight. You touch the rocks and feel the heat coming off of them.