Science: Energy Transfer

6th-8th Grade Science Lesson: Energy Transfer

Overview:

Students will be learning about the different types of energy transfers (conduction, convection, and radiation). Students will be given the problem of needing to create their own coolers, made out of random household materials. They will be testing their coolers by placing an ice cub in them and having them sit on top of a heated black surface, underneath heat lamps for 20 minutes. In order to successfully create a working cooler that will save the majority of their ice, students will need to think about conduction, convection, and radiation. They will have to come up with solutions for each of these types of energy transfers. They will be creating temperature sensors to help aid in their testing process.

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn that thermal energy, the energy contained within a system, is responsible for an object's temperature. Students will be able to make claims about the amount of thermal energy in an object based on its temperature.
Students will learn that thermal energy transfers at different rates, depending on the types of materials used. Students will be able to design, construct, and test a device that minimizes thermal energy transfer.
Students will be able to use digital tools to support and test their design process.

Standards:

MS-PS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.*

MS-PS1-4 develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed MS-PS1-4.

TI.ID.6-8.1 select and use digital tools to support design processes, identify

constraints and trade-offs and weigh risks.

Supplies:

For coolers:

Cotton balls
Popsicle sticks
Tinfoil
Felt squares
Construction paper
Mylar sheets
Tape
Glue

For thermometers:

Circuit playgrounds and cords (one per student)
Computers/Chromebooks (one per student)
Paper for decorating thermometers (optional)
Markers/crayons for decorating thermometers (optional)

Steps

Step 1: Explain the instructions for creating their coolers.

They are allowed to use any of the supplies provided
Each cooler has to be no larger than 5in. x 5in. x 5in.

Step 2: Have students create their coolers with their goal in mind (an ice cube has to survive 20 minutes under heat lamps, also placed on top of a heated black surface).

Example of cooler students could make

Step 3: Teach students how to code their circuits to create a temperature sensor (thermometer) to use to test their coolers.

Go onto https://makecode.adafruit.com/
Click "New Project"
Click the settings button and then "Pair Device" to connect the circuit to your program

Code:

Under "loops," create a forever loop.
Go to "Console," and input a console log into the forever loop.
Under "Input," select Temperature. Change to Fahrenheit.Input this into the Console log (inside the quotations)
- - - This code makes it so the circuit can detect the temperature and project that onto the computer.
Underneath the console log, input an "If, Then" statement, found under the "logic" section.
Inside the "If, Then" statement, go back to "logic" and select the option that says, "0 < 0".
Then go to "input" and select temperature again. Input this into the first 0 in the "If, then" statement.
Select the greater than or equal sign facing the temperature input. Change the second 0 into a 100. It should say
- Temperature in F is greater or equal to 100 degrees
Underneath this statement, input "show ring". This is found in the "light" section. By clicking the red button, highlight all of the lights on the right side.
Underneath the "show ring," input "play sound," and change the sound to "siren." This is found in the "music" tab.
- - - This made it so if our thermometer detects any temperature 100 degrees or higher, a siren will go off and red lights will flash.
- We will repeat these steps. Add another "If, then" statement, including the temperature, lights, and sound. However, this time, in the "If, then" statement, select Temperature F < 100 degrees. Then, for the "show ring," change lights on the left side to blue. Then change the "music" to "stop sound: siren."
  - - Now when our thermometer detects a temperature less than 100 degrees, the lights will start flashing blue and the siren will stop.

Your final code should look like this:

This code programs the circuit to let students know when the temperature reaches above or below 100 degrees. They will use these thermometers to measure the temperature of their cooler before the 20 minutes, and then after the 20 minutes. If their thermometer starts making a siren noise and flashes red, then they know that their cooler has reached 100 degrees. If their thermometer remains blue, that means their cooler is below 100 degrees. The next steps are to decorate the thermometers (this is optional).

This is an example of how you can decorate your thermometer. Here is a link to a video, showing how the circuit lights up according to temperature.