Heating and Cooling

The youngest group of students have taken part in a science class on Heating and Cooling. They started the unit by discussing what hot, cold and temperature meant. They classified their findings on a Venn Diagram.

The students were introduced to thermometers and practiced using them by taking the temperature of their fist, the room and outside. They had many chances to understand the term “below zero” this winter! This activity gave each student the opportunity to measure the temperature, read the temperature, inquire about celcius and farenheit and graph their results.

To investigate hot and cold further, the students experimented with activities such as “Melt a Cube” and “Keep a Cube.” Students predicted how long it would take an ice cube to melt and tested their predictions by running hot water over it, sitting on it, rubbing it and placing it near the heater. They constructed a definition of “insulation” after they experimented with keeping an ice cube from melting. “Insulation can keep something warm or cold.” They made a list of what materials they thought would be good insulators of heat and used these materials to test which ones insulated a cup of hot water the best. They questioned “Are we trying to keep the hot in or the cold out?” 

Alaa, Frannie and Glady’s Mom, invited the students to her lab where they learned how to use microscopes and closely observed some insulators such as styrofoam, wool and feathers! (And other cool stuff like bugs, flowers and gems.) Alaa helped the students understand their question about insulation as she shared how heat energy flows from place to place and their coats for example are trying to keep the hot air IN.

The students were excited to hear that they would be presenting on Hot and Cold for the Science Celebration! In pairs, they designed an invention that would either keep an ice cube from melting or keep hot water hot. They were introduced to the scientific process as they formed a hypothesis and materials list of effective insulators. Soon their inventions will be complete and put to the test! You will be able to view their inventions and results at the Science Celebration!