Elementary Lesson Plan: Insulation

A classroom investigation into different insulation materials and how effective they are.

This is a hands-on investigation into finding effective insulation that will keep a cup of hot water from loosing heat too quickly. The materials that are used are commonly found around the house or school making this project easy to set up.

Purpose:

• To show that heat is lost through the sides and base of a container
• To demonstrate that the cooling process can be slowed down by trapping the air using insulation

Note:

• Once the initial activity is completed the rest of the measurements will be done over the space of the day

Materials:

• Four plastic cups per group
• Four large plastic containers per group that the smaller cups will fit with the insulation around them.
• Insulating material such as newspaper, aluminum foil, cotton wool, corrugated cardboard, felt material, etc.
• Four easy to read thermometers per group
• Hot water
• Large plastic bags – the same number as insulating materials that you have
• Paper
• Pencils
• Stopwatch or timer

Presentation:

1. Introduce the importance of taking care when using hot water. Ensure that the children understand the dangers involved when using hot water.
2. Put the investigation into context and set the children a problem which they have to solve. For example you could ask them “How can we stop the water in the cups from cooling down?”
3. Fill one of the plastic cups with hot water and allow the children to carefully feel the outside of the cup to see what they notice about it. There should be heat coming through the sides and base and heat rising from the top. Ask questions about what they feel and discuss ways in which they could stop the heat escaping.
4. Show the children the various insulating materials. Place some of each insulating material into separate plastic bags and let the children test it’s “warmth” by placing their hands in the bag to see which material keeps their hands the warmest.
5. Have one plastic bag with no insulating material in it to see if they notice the difference. Ask the children to predict which material will be the best insulator – record these predications.

Class Activity:

1. Divide the class in groups of 5 or 6.
2. Give each group 4 plastic cups, 4 thermometers and 4 larger plastic containers. Let each group choose three different types of the insulating materials and have equal quantities of each.
3. Discuss making it a fair test by adding the same amount of water in each cup and measuring the temperature at the same time for each cup, etc.
4. Ask each group to “wrap” their cups in each of the chosen insulating materials in a way that they think will work the best. Then place their wrapped cup upright into a larger container so that the water won’t spill out.
5. Ensure that one cup is left uninsulated to act as a control.
6. Carefully, fill the cups with equal amounts of hot water.
7. Measure the temperature with the thermometers and record it on a chart.
8. Set the timer and measure the temperature again every fifteen to thirty minutes throughout the day. Record the results each time.
9. Create a graph to chart the results.

To Finish:

Could the investigation have been improved? Should there have been a lid for the cups? How would it have helped? What should it have been made of? etc.

This can then lead into discussions into other things that need insulation, such as our houses. Where does most of the heat escape? What sort of materials are practical and effective? Do they know what is used in their house at the moment? etc.

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