Conduction Convection Radiation Worksheet 4th Grade

All 24 terms

How heat moves 12

conduction Heat handed on between things that are touching. The handle of a metal spoon left in a pot of hot soup gets hot by conduction.
conductor A substance that carries heat along quickly. Conduction works very well in metals.
convection Heat that travels with a rising, flowing fluid. The warm part rises and the cool part sinks. Water heating in a pot moves this way.
convection current A loop of rising warm fluid and sinking cool fluid. Large convection currents in the air shape much of the weather.
fluid A substance able to flow, such as water or air. Liquids and gases are fluids.
heat Energy on the move because of a difference in warmth. Heat keeps flowing until both things are at one temperature.
heat transfer The moving of heat from one thing or place to another. It happens in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation.
insulator A poor carrier of heat; it keeps warm things warm. Air is a poor conductor of heat, which makes it an insulator.
radiation Heat sent out as waves, even across empty space. The warmth on the side of you that faces a campfire is radiation.
temperature A number, in degrees, for the hotness of a thing. It is measured with a thermometer.
thermal energy The energy of the moving particles in a thing. The faster its particles move, the hotter a thing is.
thermal equilibrium Two things equally warm, with no heat flowing. A cold drink left on a table warms until it reaches the temperature of the room.

Show all 24 terms (12 more)

Waves, air and materials 12

absorb To soak up waves and warm up as a result. A dark object takes in radiant energy faster than a pale one.
contract To get smaller, as most matter does when cooled. The full name for it is thermal contraction.
density The mass of a thing set against the room it takes up. Warm fluid is less dense than cool fluid, which is why it rises.
electromagnetic wave A wave of the family of light, radio and X-rays. These waves can cross empty space. Infrared is one of the family.
expand To get bigger, as most matter does when heated. The full name for it is thermal expansion.
infrared Waves we cannot see but feel on the skin as warmth. Infrared waves are just longer than the waves of red light.
reflect To send waves back from a surface. A mirror reflects light.
thermometer The instrument read to find out how warm a thing is. It has a part that changes with temperature and a scale or screen that shows a number.
ultraviolet Unseen waves just beyond violet; they cause sunburn. It is these waves, not the sun's warmth, that burn the skin.
vacuum A place emptied of air and of everything else. Conduction and convection need matter, so only radiation crosses a vacuum.
vacuum flask A bottle with two walls and almost no air between them. The gap cuts heat transfer by conduction and convection, so a drink stays hot or cold.
wind Air on the move, as cool air slides in under warm air. Rising warm air is replaced by cooler, denser air around it, and we feel that as wind.

How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-11. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the English Wikipedia article on the term (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Heat, Heat transfer, Thermal conduction, Convection, Thermal radiation, Thermal energy, Temperature, Metal, Thermal insulation, Convection cell, Fluid, Thermal equilibrium, Infrared, Electromagnetic radiation, Vacuum, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), Reflection (physics), Thermometer, Thermal expansion, Density, Vacuum flask and Sea breeze. The three ways heat moves, their everyday examples, convection currents and wind, infrared, ultraviolet and the absorbing of radiant energy were checked a second time against The Transfer of Heat Energy, of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/atmosphere/transfer-of-heat-energy). The fact after each meaning is from the same pages. Licence: own work

How it works

This conduction, convection and radiation worksheet for 4th grade is a matching sheet: the three ways heat moves and nine more terms, such as conductor, insulator and thermal energy, each to join to its meaning. A key prints last.

Read the full guide

Waves, air and materials

Set opens on How heat moves. Waves, air and materials prints infrared, ultraviolet, electromagnetic wave, vacuum, absorb, reflect, expand, contract, density, wind, thermometer and vacuum flask.

Kinetic and potential energy are on the energy transfer worksheet.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between conduction, convection and radiation?

Conduction passes heat between things that touch. Convection carries heat in a moving liquid or gas, as warm fluid rises and cool fluid sinks. Radiation sends heat as waves, which need nothing to travel through.

What are examples of conduction, convection and radiation?

Conduction: a hot stove burner heats the bottom of the pan sitting on it. Convection: a sea breeze, as air warmed over the land rises and cooler sea air blows in. Radiation: your own body gives off heat as waves.

How does heat from the sun reach Earth?

By radiation. The space between the sun and Earth holds almost no matter, so conduction and convection cannot carry heat across it. The sun's energy crosses as electromagnetic waves, among them visible light and infrared.

Is there a conduction convection radiation worksheet for 5th grade or 3rd grade?

This page serves them: no grade is printed on the sheet. The first set has the three ways heat moves with conductor, insulator and temperature. The second set goes on to infrared, vacuum and density.