What Is Sunshine?

• Sunshine is the bright light and warmth that comes from the sun.
• It travels from far away in space to reach our planet Earth.
• Sunshine is a natural source of energy that helps everything on Earth grow.

The Power of Heat

• Sunshine is not just light; it also carries heat.
• When the sun shines on an object, it transfers its heat to that object.
• This heat is what makes the ground feel warm during a sunny afternoon.

What Is Melting?

• Melting is what happens when a solid thing gets warm enough to turn into a liquid.
• It occurs when heat is added to something that is frozen or very cold.
• Melting is a change in the way something looks and feels.

How Sunshine Causes Melting

• When sunshine hits something cold, like ice, the heat from the sun moves into the ice.
• As the ice gets warmer, it cannot stay solid anymore and begins to turn into water.
• The stronger the sunshine, the faster the melting happens.

Sunshine and Melting Examples

• A snowman getting smaller and turning into a puddle on a sunny winter day.
• An ice cube taken out of the freezer that turns into water on the counter.
• Frozen juice popsicles that start to drip when you eat them outside in the sun.
• Snow on the mountains turning into rushing water in the rivers when spring comes.

Lesson Summary

• Sunshine provides the heat needed to change objects from cold to warm.
• Melting is the process of a solid turning into a liquid because of heat.
• Sunshine is the most powerful natural way to melt ice and snow in our world.