Observation is key The 9th grade thermal physics as well as in all Waldorf science curriculum. "Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant observation leads to the most significant scientific breakthrough," says Mr. Beasly. The class has covered key thermal concepts beginning with polarity and equilibrium. Demonstrations explore how substances expand and contract when warm or cooled which leads to the concept of temperature and the derivation of the thermometer. Specific heat, latent heat, phase changes, and the ideal gas laws are all studied and explored through mathematical calculations. The block also explores these in the internal combustion engine.