Abe

El Manssouri

Middle School Science

Meet the Maker: Abe El Manssouri

My name is Abe El Manssouri and I am a middle school science teacher at Eisenhower. Maker culture is important because it is a hands-on experience that allows my students to develop solutions to scientific problems and concepts they already learned, in a way that is creative, fun, and engaging.

Provocation: How might we design an insulating cup that will keep 250 ml of water warm for the longest time?

Maker Plan: (Chemical Interactions: Heat Transfer)

What we are making, Why we are Making, Who we are Making for:

Students will design and make an insulating cup (thermos) that keeps liquids within a narrow range of temperature. By understanding how heat energy transfers, students will investigate and develop a solution to conserve energy by keeping it contained in a confined space.

Through this project, students will understand concepts and acquire skills that should help them conserve energy better.

Maker Skill Builders & Highlights

Brainstorming/ Ideation

Task

After reviewing all of the resources provided in Google Classroom about insulators, write a paragraph or draw a labeled diagram that explains your initial idea of the product.

Tools

  • Post-It Notes
  • Markers
  • Chart Paper

Steps

  • Students draw or write their idea (their choice!!)
  • When a student completes an idea, they stick it to the Chart paper
  • When students are done, they discuss all the ideas and agree about the best one.


Prototyping

Students will design and build a table out of newspaper tubes. They need to make it at least eight inches tall and strong enough to hold a heavy book. Students will use a list of materials to build the table. Then they test it by carefully setting a heavy book on it. When they test, the design may not work as planned. If things don’t work out, it’s an opportunity—not a mistake! When engineers solve a problem, they try different ideas, learn from mistakes, and try again. Study the problems and then redesign.


This skill builder is adapted from this PBS kids lesson.
This picture is taken from this link.

Gallery

The Making

The process could be messy at times!

The Product

Some of the designs students made

Technological Tools

Students use vernier probes to measure accurate temperature changes over a period of time. They used the Logger Pro interface to create graphs of the temperature changes.

Additional Teacher Resources & Reproducibles:

Must know tips for Teachers:

  • Thorough understanding of how heat transfers.
  • Break down the project into timed sections.
  • Use different ways of formative assessment throughout the project.
  • Students use the last 5 minutes of class to clean up and reorganize the room.