The simplest activity to demonstrate conduction is to get students to go outside on a warm summer day. They should look for an object that has been in direct sunlight for some time. Something like a wall or a metal bench or table. They should then touch their cheeks to register the warmth of their hands before the experiment begins. Once this has been done they should then place their hands on the object until they can feel them absorbing the warmth. After a minute they need to place their hands back on to their cheeks to register the change in temperature. What has happened is a conduction of heat from the warm object to their hands.
Students should be given the equipment needed to cut a paper circle into a spiral shape. Once completed they should then attach a piece of string to the top of the spiral with tape. Next a candle is lit and the students should then hold their spirals directly above the flame, making sure that it does not touch or set alight. After a few moments the spiral should spin demonstrating the effect of convection, which sees the air around the candle energized and forced upwards resulting in the movement of the spiral.
Another simple experiment, this time to illustrate radiation, is to get students to go outside on a warm day. Start by standing in a cooler shaded area for a minute and then move into a warm area that is under direct sunlight. The warmth that the students now feel is the radiation that comes directly from the sun.
At the end of lesson get the students to come up with other everyday examples of heat transfer. Things to think about include the risk of burning your feet on hot sand on the beach, suffering heat stroke from exposure to too much sun, animals suffering heat exhaustion in hot cars or melting ice on a lake.