Type of Insulator Material | Temperature in Celsius |
Aluminum Foil | 43 |
Styrofoam | 44 |
Newspaper | 41 |
Bubble Wrap | 44 |
As seen in the table above the bubble wrap and the Styrofoam exhibited the least amount of heat loss, while the newspaper exhibited the most. As a side note, the bubble wrap had the "bubbles" intact. Conclusion: The bubble wrap was just as effective insulator as the Styrofoam. The bubble wrap and the Styrofoam have many small air spaces. These small spaces make the molecules less likely come in contact with other molecules to "pass on" the increased vibrating motion (Tillery, Enger and Ross, 2208).
If I was to repeat this experiment, I would include a second part to this investigation. The second part would focus on the amount of temperature change and would consist of changing the type of drinking container. Instead of a Styrofoam container using a "coffee mug" while keeping the insulating materials, and the amount of water the same. What would be interesting to find out if there was more of a heat loss with a ceramic coffee mug than with a Styrofoam cup.
If I were to plan an engaging scientific inquiry for my 4th grade students on heat transfer, it would be centered keeping a meal warm, similar in the article "What's Hot What's Not?" with a little variation. Inquiry would be of a guided one initially. The manipulated variable in the experiment would be the type of bowl used to keep a select piece of food warm. The type and amount of food would remain constant. A benchmark temperature would be taken, then at preselected intervals to track heat transfer among the bowls. Results would be graphed. After the investigation each student group would initiate questions that may lead them to develop their own investigations.
If I was to repeat this experiment, I would include a second part to this investigation. The second part would focus on the amount of temperature change and would consist of changing the type of drinking container. Instead of a Styrofoam container using a "coffee mug" while keeping the insulating materials, and the amount of water the same. What would be interesting to find out if there was more of a heat loss with a ceramic coffee mug than with a Styrofoam cup.
If I were to plan an engaging scientific inquiry for my 4th grade students on heat transfer, it would be centered keeping a meal warm, similar in the article "What's Hot What's Not?" with a little variation. Inquiry would be of a guided one initially. The manipulated variable in the experiment would be the type of bowl used to keep a select piece of food warm. The type and amount of food would remain constant. A benchmark temperature would be taken, then at preselected intervals to track heat transfer among the bowls. Results would be graphed. After the investigation each student group would initiate questions that may lead them to develop their own investigations.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI like the different items you chose to test in this experiment. Did you find the styrofoam was hard to work with? Did you have it cut so that there were no areas where the heat could leak out?
I too wondered about how much the type of container would affect the amount of heat lost. It might make some people think about what they use when they go out to get coffee from Starbucks. Your travel mug at home likely keeps the temperature hotter than those paper cups they pass out, but by how much?
~Charity
As I was reading everyone’s blogs, I discovered a common factor many of us used in our investigation. Most of us used aluminum foil as one of the materials to insulate a mug. I found this to be intriguing. I started to compare the results of the aluminum foil of each of our investigations. The results are listed below:
ReplyDeleteStudent Temperature of water covered with aluminum foil after thirty minutes Temperature lost
Tera 34°C ??
Charity 65°C 34°C
Cassidy 38°C ??
Mark 43°C 3°C
Hollie 47°C 53°C
The first element that caught my attention was the temperature of Charity of water. I wondered why her temperature was so much higher than the rest of us. I tried to explain the possible reasons for this difference in temperatures. Was it the cup—what it was made of, the size, shape? Was it the amount of water she used or the tightness of the rubber band?
All of a sudden, I had an epiphany! What was the starting water temperature? Tera and Cassidy did not state what their starting temperature was, but Charity and I started close to the boiling point (approximately 100°C). Mark stated his water temperature started at 46°C. Now Mark’s temperature lost was the interesting element in our data. I am concluded after analyzing our results is that the lower the temperature starts the less temperature is lost.
Sorry I do not understand how to insert a chart.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI like your suggestion on completing the experiment again changing the independent variable to see the differences in the temperatures. This would help to see where the heat is being lost.