Oh, That's HOT!!

Exploring Thermal Energy and MS-PS3-3

Have you discovered Thermochromic pigment?  It was new to me.  Basically, its a VERY DUSTY pigment that can be added to a variety of substances and it will respond to heat!  When I discovered this 'stuff' I knew for certain how much my students would enjoy an opportunity to tinker and explore with it, so I created a little Experimental Design lesson that meets NGSS standard MS-PS3-3 AND is a LOT of fun!!!!

Matching the Standard to the Task

When is comes to Design Challenges, the NGSS standards are pretty specific, students are always required to "design, construct and test".  With this particular standard, it boils down to:

and for awhile I was like 😩.  But then came thermochromic pigment and a stroke of inspiration! 

Creating Thermochromic Paint

If you aren't familiar with thermochromic pigment, essentially it change color (chrom) when heat (therm) is applied. 

So it took me QUITE a few trials to get the pigment to do what I wanted.  At first I blended this pigment with yellow paint and I got a light green result that faded to yellow.  Not so bad.  It wasn't until I purchased acrylic VARNISH that I was able to get the result of a dark color fading to reveal the word HOT underneath!!  Then I knew I was on to something awesome!!  

Our Task

For this task, students will be asked to use experimental design to create and test a Thermal Energy cup sleeve that indicates when a cup of cocoa is too warm to drink!

The Process

The process is based on the NGSS experimental design procedures which are EXPERTLY described by Paul Anderson.   I've created some great printables that can serve as a scaffold to the process if you're ready to get started with experimental design process.  You can get them here:

For this project, here's what the students were asked to do:

Essentially, the students need to create a sleeve for a 12 or 16 oz cup that contains a thermochromic sensor that will indicate whether or not the contents of the cup are hot by taking advantage of thermal energy transfer.  Much of the process involves experimenting with the design and materials for the sleeve, deciding how to create a sensor to reveal whether or not the contents are hot.  Attempting to maximize thermal energy transfer buy using different materials (aluminum foil, copper pennies, etc.) to get the thermochromic paint to respond more rapidly and of course, students are encouraged to create a visually appealing sleeve...

Save your lip when you take a sip!!

Results

The students collected data as they went through the process in order to have evidence to support their claim at the end of the task.

As the students went through the process, they really NAILED it!  They:

• Identified the problem, constraints and criteria
• Brainstormed possible solutions
• Diagramed ideas
• Created solutions
• Tested their solutions and collected data
• Iterated

We finalized the process by writing our results in a CER:

And of course we finalized the project with a little hot cocoa party.

This is truly one HOT project, 

Engineering Design Process

This is my first year of teaching Science, and after 15 years as a social studies teacher, that's QUITE a change!!

As an advocate and enthusiast of STEM Design, I truly embraced the challenge OF the challenge of using Experimental Design (also known as Engineering Design) for instruction. Not knowing EXACTLY what I was doing when I reached this standard for my sixth graders:

MS-PS1-6 Undertake a design project to construct, test and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes

I started from scratch; researching Experimental Design expectations, exploring what Bozeman Science had to say on the topic, and eventually establishing my own guide for students to participate in Experimental Design.

The infographic above basically establishes the elements that need to be included in any engineering (experimental) design project.  

For my students, I broke this down into more manageable steps and began with a SMALL challenge...the candle, thumbtack and match challenge.  My goal?  To get them to be able to IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM, ESTABLISH CONSTRAINTS and DETERMINE CRITERIA and to develop POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.

As I introduced my students to this process of Experimental Design I needed them to be able to understand CONSTRAINTS and CRITERIA.  The candle challenge is PERFECT for students to isolate the concepts of establishing the problem, determining the constraints and outlining the criteria for success.   Needless to say, when provided the problem, students EAGERLY engaged in determining a solution.  Here are the guide sheets I gave them along the way:

I grouped the students and had them work collaboratively towards a solution to the problem of HOW that candle can be fixed to the wall preventing candle wax from dripping onto the table using only the candle, thumbtacks and a box of matches.  They successfully identified the problem, constraints and criteria and eagerly brainstormed solutions but were tormented as I made them wait an extra day to find out the solution.  (he he)

GET THE SOLUTION HERE!!

The good news is it WORKED and I successfully provided a scaffold to move forward and provide them with a more rigorous design challenge:  The Marshmallow Tower.  Stay tuned for MORE details on the Marshmallow Tower as we expanded from PROBLEM, CONSTRAINTS, CRITERIA, POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS to DESIGNING, CREATING, ITERATION and OPTIMIZATION and even more on our eventual Chilly Scarecrow Challenge that finally achieved the standard in an amazing way, all while