heat loss science experiment

The Biology Corner

Biology Teaching Resources

Investigation: Heat Loss and Insulation in a Jar

This simple experiment can be used as a way to introduce the scientific method. Students design an experiment to test which materials are the best insulators by measuring heat loss.

The materials are simple, and the experiment doesn’t take very long. They will need two beakers per group, a thermometer, and hot water. Also, a variety of insulation materials, such as cotton, newspaper, styrofoam, cardboard.

You can substitute any number of materials. You can also brainstorm with students before class about things that make good insulators. Then, bring the ones students suggest for testing.

The Experiment

First, students design the experiment and discuss what type of data they will need to gather. They will need a beaker filled with hot water. I use a kettle to heat up water in my classroom.

They will then use a thermometer to measure heat loss over 14 minutes. This is compared to another jar with a different type of insulation

Final Synthesis

Finally, students answer questions about their experiment. They identify the control, dependent, and independent variables. Then, they create a graph that shows how temperature changes over time. Students should observe that the beaker with insulation changes more slowly than the one without insulation. Instructors can compile all the group data so they can compare different materials and determine which one is the best insulator.

The graph shown below is a example of the type of graph that students will create based on their data. You can opt to run the experiment longer than 14 minutes which may have more dramatic results. The time is based on my class period which is about 50 minutes, leaving time for discussion and completing the worksheet.

Worksheet ends with a CER ( Claim, Evidence, Reasoning ). Students must answer the question about which materials are the best insulators.

There are two versions of this worksheet, a regular version with mostly open-ended questions, and a simpler version that has easier questions that are multiple choice. The simple version also has the graph set up (X and Y axes labeled). These versions are created for differentiation in classes that may have ELL students or students with special needs.

Shannan Muskopf

January 5, 2017

Stay Warm with Thermal Insulation

A hot science project

By Science Buddies & Svenja Lohner

Want to keep warm this winter? Try this "cool" activity and find out what types of insulation work best--and why. 

George Retseck

Key concepts Physics Heat transfer Insulation Material science

Introduction What do you do when it gets very cold in winter? You probably turn your heater on, put on an extra layer of clothes or cuddle under a warm blanket. But have you ever thought about why a jacket helps you stay warm? Why are our clothes made from fabrics and not foils? Find out the answers in this activity; your results might even help you find the best way to stay warm in the cold!

Background Heat is a form of energy. You need energy to heat something up: for example, a cup of tea. To make your tea you probably use energy from electricity or gas. However, once your tea is hot, it won't stay hot forever. Just leave the cup of tea out on the table for a while, and you already know that it will become cooler the longer you wait. This is due to a phenomenon called heat transfer, which is the flow of energy in the form of heat. If two objects have different temperatures, heat automatically flows from one object to the other once they are in contact. The heat energy is transferred from the hotter to the colder object. In the case of the tea, the heat of the liquid is transferred to its surrounding air, which is usually colder than the tea. Once both objects reach the same temperature, the heat transfer will stop. Heat transfer via movement of fluids (liquids or gases) is called convection.

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Another type of heat transfer is conduction, in which energy moves through a substance (usually a solid) from one particle to another (unlike in convection where it’s the heated matter itself that moves). A pot handle getting hot would be an example of conduction.

Heat can also be transferred through radiation. You might have experienced that from sitting around a bonfire. Although you are not touching the fire, you can feel it radiating heat in your face even if it is cold outside. If you like to drink your tea hot, you might ask how heat transfer can be reduced, and how the tea keeps from cooling down? The answer is thermal insulation. Insulation means creating a barrier between the hot and the cold object that reduces heat transfer by either reflecting thermal radiation or decreasing thermal conduction and convection from one object to the other. Depending on the material of the barrier, the insulation will be more or less effective. Barriers that conduct heat very poorly are good thermal insulators, whereas materials that conduct heat very well have a low insulating capability. In this activity, you will test which materials make good or bad thermal insulators with the help of a glass of hot water. Which material do you think will be most effective?

Five glass jars with lids

Scissors (and adult to help with cutting)

Aluminum foil

Bubble wrap

Wool scarf or other wool clothes

Hot tap water

Thermometer

Paper for writing

Pen or pencil                                                                                                         

Preparation

Cut a piece of the aluminum foil, the bubble wrap and the paper (have an adult help if necessary). Each piece should be large enough to fit three times around the sides of the glass jar.

Take the piece of aluminum foil and wrap it around the sides of one of the jars. You should have three layers of foil around the glass jar. Use the tape to attach the foil to the jar.

Next, wrap another jar with the bubble wrap so that the glass is also covered in three layers. Make sure to tape the bubble wrap onto the jar.

Use the cut paper to wrap a third jar in three layers of paper. Once again, attach the paper to the glass jar.

Take another glass jar and wrap the scarf or other wool fabric around the jar. Only make three layers of wrapping and make sure that the scarf stays attached to the jar.

Leave the last jar without any wrapping. This will be your control.

Fill each jar with the same amount of hot water from your faucet.

Use the thermometer to measure the temperature in each jar. Put your finger inside the water of each jar (use caution if your tap water is very hot) — how does the temperature of the water feel?

Write down the temperature for each jar and close the lids. Are all the temperatures the same or are there differences? How big are the differences?

Open your fridge and put all the five jars inside. Make sure they are still securely wrapped. Feel the temperature of the fridge—what does its temperature feel like?

Put the thermometer in the fridge. What temperature does the thermometer read when you put it into the fridge?

Once all the jars are in the fridge, close the fridge door and set your timer to 10 minutes. What do you think will happen with the jars and the hot water during that time?

After 10 minutes open the fridge and take all the jars outside. Do the jars feel different?

Open each jar, one at a time, and measure the water temperature with your thermometer. Also, feel the temperature with your finger. Did the temperature change? How did it change according to the thermometer?

Repeat measuring the temperature for each jar and write down the temperature for each wrapping material. Did the temperature in each jar change the same way? Which wrapping material resulted in the lowest temperature change, and which resulted in the biggest?

For a better comparison, calculate the temperature difference from the beginning and end of the test for each jar (temperature beginning versus temperature after 10 minutes in fridge). From your results, can you tell which material is the best or weakest thermal insulator?

Extra: Will temperatures continue to change in a similar way for each material? You can close each jar again and put them back into the fridge for another 10 minutes. Are the results different this time or the same?

Extra : Does the water temperature change the same in the fridge as in the freezer or at room temperature? Repeat the test, but this time instead of putting the glass jars into the fridge, put them into the freezer or keep them at room temperature. How much does the temperature of the water change within 10 minutes? Do the different wrapping materials behave differently?

Extra : Try to find other materials that you think are good or bad thermal insulators and test them. Which material works the best? Can you think of a reason why?

Extra : If you take the jars out of the fridge after 10 minutes, you probably still measure a temperature difference between the water inside the jar and the temperature inside the fridge. You can keep the glass jars longer in the fridge and measure their temperature every 15 to 30 minutes. How long does it take until the temperature of the water doesn't change anymore? What is the end temperature of the water inside the glass?

Extra : Besides choosing the right insulator material, what are other ways to improve thermal insulation? Repeat this test with only one wrapping material. This time change the thickness of your insulating layer. Do you find a correlation between thickness of insulation layer and temperature change in the fridge?

Observations and results Did your hot water cool down significantly during the 10 minutes inside the fridge? Although the fridge temperature is very low, your hot water has a high temperature. As heat energy flows from the hot object to the cold object, the heat energy from your hot water will be transferred to the surrounding cold air inside the fridge once you put the glass jars inside. The most significant mechanism of heat transfer in this case is convection, which means that the air just next to the hot jar is warmed up by the hot water. Then, the warm air is replaced with cold air, which is also warmed up. At the same time, the cold air cools down the water inside the jar. The heat of the hot water is transported away by the flow of cold air around the cup. If you left the jars in the fridge long enough, you might have observed that the temperature changes until the hot water reaches the temperature inside the fridge. Without a temperature difference between the water and the fridge, the heat transfer will stop.

Heat from the water is also lost through conduction: the transfer of heat through the material, which is dependent on the thermal conductivity of the material itself. The glass jar can conduct heat relatively well. You notice that when you touch the glass jar with the hot water the glass feels hot as well. What effect did the different wrapping materials have? You should have noticed that with wrapping materials, the temperature of the water after 10 minutes inside the fridge was higher compared to the unwrapped control. Why? Wrapping the glass jar reduces the heat transfer from the hot water to the cold air inside the fridge. Using wrapping materials that have a very low thermal conductivity reduces the heat loss through conduction. At the same time the insulator can also disrupt or reduce the flow of cold air around the glass jar, which results in less heat loss via convection.

One way of reducing convection is creating air pockets around the jar, for example, by using insulators such as bubble wrap, fabric or wool, which have a lot of air pockets. Air in general is a good thermal insulator, but it can transmit heat through convection. However, if the air pockets inside the insulating material are separated from each other, heat flow from one air pocket to another cannot happen easily. This is the reason why you should have measured the highest temperature in the bubble-wrapped jar and fabric-wrapped jar. This also explains why most of our clothes are made of fabrics and why you stay warmer when you put on an extra jacket. Paper and foil make it easier for the heat to escape because they don't have many air pockets.

More to explore Heat Transfer—For Kids , from Real World Physics Problems How Animals Stay Warm with Blubber , from Scientific American How Does a Thermos Work?( pdf ), from Daily Science Science Activity for All Ages!, from Science Buddies

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• Why We’re Unique

Heat Retention

Does fresh water hold heat longer than salt water how does water compare to land and what effect does this have on the weather what factors affect the cooling of land, introduction: (initial observation).

If you’ve ever been out in the hot summer sun for any length of time, you know that it makes you pretty darn hot. The sands in the beach gets very hot and walking bare foot becomes a painful experience. While sands in the beach are hot enough to cook an egg, water may still be cold. After sunset sands lose their heat very fast while water is still warm. Why does the sand become hot or loses heat so fast, while water is much slower in gaining and loosing heat?

Does such difference affect the climate? We are hoping to find the answer to some of these questions during this project.

This project guide contains information that you need in order to start your project. If you have any questions or need more support about this project, click on the “Ask Question” button on the top of this page to send me a message.

If you are new in doing science project, click on “How to Start” in the main page. There you will find helpful links that describe different types of science projects, scientific method, variables, hypothesis, graph, abstract and all other general basics that you need to know.

Project advisor

Information Gathering:

Find out about heat retention and other important physical properties of material. Read books, magazines or ask professionals who might know in order to learn about the factors that may affect heat retention. Also learn about specific heat or heat capacity of material as a factor affecting heat retention. Keep track of where you got your information from.

Note: Heat Retention of a substance is the amount of heat that certain amount of that substance can retain in itself. For example water can hold much more heat than wood. If you place a cup of water and a block of wood in the oven for a while, water will absorb and retain more heat in itself than wood (per unit of weight).

In this project we will test and compare the heat retention of different material, not the heat retention of one substance in different temperatures or different physical stats. The reason is that comparing the heat retention of one substance at different temperatures and different physical stats is very complicated and needs more advanced equipment. For example the heat retention of crystal sugar may be different from the heat retention of molten sugar. Also the heat retention of water may be different from the heat retention of ice.

In the example of salt water, heat retention may change based on the density of salt water. So if you are studying the heat retention of salt water, you can repeat your tests with different salt waters with different densities.

You will need to add some more information yourself from books and from the Internet. Having a list of references is an important part of each science project.

Oceans slow warming and cooling in coastal cities

Oceans have a large influence on the climates of coastal cities. They moderate the climates of coastal cities by keeping the winters warmer than they would otherwise be if the city was farther inland and the summers cooler. As you can see in the graphic above, Sioux Falls, SD. has a much larger variation in temperature between January and July than the coastal cities of Portland, ME. and Portland, OR. The main reason for this is that water has a much larger heat capacity than land. In other words, water temperature changes very slowly compared to soil temperature. This is why coastal cities do not warm up as fast as cities in the Plains during spring and summer and why they do not cool down as fast during fall and winter. If it were not for the oceans, coastal cities would have much colder winters and much warmer summers like the cities in the Plains and other inland regions.

Sea breezes help cool places near oceans

A sunny, warm April morning with temperatures in the 70s begins a beautiful spring day in New Jersey. As you and the family go on a picnic to take advantage of the great weather, a sudden chill roars through the region and a stiff easterly wind quickly drops temperatures into the 40s. This often occurs near the coast during early spring warm ups. It is commonly known as a sea breeze. But during the hot days of summer, sea breezes can bring welcome relief from the heat.

Sea breezes form because water heats up much slower than land . Cool air over the ocean is heavier and more dense than the warm air over land. The cool air nudges its way inland and can create a strong wind at the surface. The bigger the temperature contrast between the air temperature inland and the water temperature, the better chance of a sea breeze developing and the stronger it will be.

Some Physical Definitions:

Temperature is the measure of the relative warmth or coolness of an object. Temperature is measured by means of a thermometer or other instrument having a scale calibrated in units called degrees.

Heat capacity or thermal capacity is the ratio of the change in heat energy of a unit mass of a substance to the change in temperature of the substance; like its melting point or boiling point, the heat capacity is a characteristic of a substance. The measurement of heat and heat capacity is called calorimetry.

Specific heat is the ratio of the heat capacity of a substance to the heat capacity of a reference substance, usually water. Heat capacity is the amount of heat needed to change the temperature of a unit mass 1°. The heat capacity of water is 1 calorie per gram per degree Celsius (1 cal/g-°C)

Specific Heat of a substance in relation to water is the same number as the heat capacity of that substance. This is because the heat capacity of water is 1.

What does that mean?

When you warm up an object, you are storing heat energy in that object. For example you may store some heat energy in a rock by placing it on the fire. You may later use the heat energy stored in a rock to warm up your hands. Is rock a good object to store energy? Do other material hold more energy in them?

The amount of heat energy that can increase the temperature of 1 gram rock by 1 degree Celsius is the specific heat capacity of the rock. For example the heat capacity of glass is 0.2 cal/g/ºC. In other words if you have a piece of glass that is 1 gram, you can use 0.2 calorie heat energy to increase its temperature for 1 degree Celsius. The same amount of water gets five times more heat energy to warm up the same amount. So the heat capacity of water is five times more than the heat capacity of glass.

Following table shows the heat capacity of different material.

Specific Heat Capacities Table

Since different material have different heat capacities, the amount of heat that can heat up different material to a certain temperature varies. For example wood will get to a certain high temperature with very little heat. So a hot wood is not as dangerous as hot water.

Question/ Purpose:

The purpose of this project is:

• To compare heat retention of fresh water and salt water
• To compare heat retention of water and sand/soil
• Build a simple solar collector to store heat
• Measure heat retention and dissipation in a closed environment
• Use the difference between heat retention of soil and water to explain the climate of coastal cities.

Identify Variables:

When you think you know what variables may be involved, think about ways to change one at a time. If you change more than one at a time, you will not know what variable is causing your observation. Sometimes variables are linked and work together to cause something. At first, try to choose variables that you think act independently of each other.

The independent variable is the type of material. Possible values are water, salt water, sand, wood)

The dependent variable is the heat retention.

Constants are heat source, temperature, methods and procedures.

Hypothesis:

Based on your gathered information, make an educated guess about what types of things affect the system you are working with. Identifying variables is necessary before you can make a hypothesis.

My hypothesis is that pure water will retain more heat than salt water. Also water will retain more heat than sand.

I base my hypothesis on personal observations that in a hot summer evening, soil gets cold faster than water. Water will stay warmer even hours after the sunset. Soil contains salt and many other minerals, so salt water that contains such minerals should have lower heat retention.

Experiment Design:

Design an experiment to test each hypothesis. Make a step-by-step list of what you will do to answer each question. This list is called an experimental procedure. For an experiment to give answers you can trust, it must have a “control.” A control is an additional experimental trial or run. It is a separate experiment, done exactly like the others. The only difference is that no experimental variables are changed. A control is a neutral “reference point” for comparison that allows you to see what changing a variable does by comparing it to not changing anything. Dependable controls are sometimes very hard to develop. They can be the hardest part of a project. Without a control you cannot be sure that changing the variable causes your observations. A series of experiments that includes a control is called a “controlled experiment.”

Heat Uptake Experiment (List of material follows)

Note: The older version of this experiment is available here

Introduction:

For heat uptake experiment you may place different material under the sunlight or in a warm oven and record their temperature increase.

For solid material the surface temperature will be measured.

For liquids, sand and powders, thermometer can be inserted in the material or can be mounted on the side of their container.

The most common experiment for heat uptake is comparing the rate of heat uptake of water and salt water.

The other experiment is comparing the heat uptake of water and sand. You may do this experiment with dry sand or with wet sand.

Following is a sample procedure for comparing the heat uptake of salt water and fresh water.

Use tap water as fresh water. Make saturated salt water by adding as much as possible kosher salt to regular tap water. (about 250 grams of salt per liter of water)

• Get two identical glass jars and two identical thermometers. Pass the thermometers from square pieces of cardboards that are slightly larger than the jars openings. Cardboards will hold the thermometers in a way that the bulbs will stay almost in the center of the jar.
• Fill 1/2 of one jar with salt. Label the jar as “SALT WATER”.
• Label the second jar as “FRESH WATER”
• Add water to both jars up to about 3/4 of the top. The water level in both jars must be the same. It won’t matter if the salt is not dissolved in water.
• Place the thermometers in the jars and make sure that both thermometers show the same temperature. If they are not showing the same temperature, keep both jars at room temperature or in a refrigerator until they get to the same temperature.
• Record the starting temperature of both jars and carefully place them in a warm oven. Oven temperature about 80ºC up to 120ºC is recommended. (Adult help and supervision is required)
• Open the oven every 5 minutes and record the temperatures of both jars. You may continue your observations every 5 minutes up to one hour.

Make a graph : Use the above table to draw a line graph. Use blue color graph for fresh water and red color graph for salt water.

Variations :

• If you have access to the hot sunlight, you may place both jars on a black background under the sunlight. A black background for the jars or painting the jars with black paint contributes to absorbing heat energy from the sunlight. If you use the sunlight, you may need to continue your observations and recordings for 3 or 4 hours. If the sunlight is not hot, this experiment will not work.
• You may do this experiment using sand instead of salt.

What is a control experiment?

Just to show that no other environmental factor caused the temperature increase, you may have a separate identical setup and do nothing with that. For example another pair of jars with fresh water and salt water that you don’t place it in the oven; however you measure and record their temperature. This will be your control experiment.

Extension: 

After you remove both jars from the oven, you can also observe and record the temperature drop every 5 minutes. Find out which one cools off faster.

Heat Retention and Dissipation Experiment

1. Poke a small hole in the cooler’s top. CAREFULLY insert one thermometer so it extends all the way through the top then about a centimeter. Tape the thermometer in place with clear tape. Be careful not to move the thermometer around in the hole it made.

2. Place the cooler’s top on the cooler so it seals. Record the temperature inside the cooler after five minutes and write that temperature in your journal.

3. Fill one plastic bottle with hot tap water. Use the other thermometer to record the temperature of the water for five minutes. Write the final temperature in your journal.

4. Place the hot water bottle in the cooler. Record cooler’s temperature every two minutes for the first ten minutes then every ten minutes for five to 8 hour.

5. Prepare a graph that shows heat loss in the system over a day’s time.

6. Repeat the experiment with the same amount of hot salt water (Include as much salt as possible).

7. Repeat the experiment with the same amount (by weight) of dry sand.

Make your own Styrofoam cooler.

From a sheet of Styrofoam, cut 4 pieces 5″ x 13″ each. (You will have to use a sharp and dangerous utility knife also known as box cutter, adult supervision required) Connect them to each other using wood glue. Use some nails or screws to hold the pieces together while glue is being dried. This will be the internal layer of your cooler. When the glue is dried you can remove the screws and prepare the second layer of Styrofoam.

For the second layer cut 4 pieces 6 3/4″ X 13″. Connect these pieces over the previous pieces so the seams of internal layer will be covered. again use temporary nails and screws to hold pieces together until the glue dries.

Mount each small square in the middle of a large square and let it dry.

Later we glue one of these two to the bottom and keep the other for the top.

Finally the cooler is ready and we can start our tests by placing the first hot water bottle in the cooler to see how much heat does the hot water transfer to the environment.

Materials and Equipment:

• 2 glass jars
• Room-temperature water
• Two thermometers (MiniScience.com part number GATW-1 or GATY-1)
• Some 2″ nails
• Rubber band
• Styrofoam ice chest (cooler) or Styrofoam boards (from hardware stores)

Results of Experiment (Observation):

Among the material that you tested (Water, Salt water and Sand), the one that has a higher heat retention will hold more heat in itself. For example 2 pounds water may hold more heat than 2 pounds of salt water or two pounds of sand. Any of these three that holds more heat, will make our Styrofoam box warmer and for a longer time.

Calculations:

For the heat uptake experiment you may calculate the rate at which heat was gained in Part A.( X degrees every Y minutes)

For the heat dissipation experiment you may calculate the rate at which heat was lost in part.

Summary of Results:

Summarize what happened. This can be in the form of a table of processed numerical data, or graphs. It could also be a written statement of what occurred during experiments.

It is from calculations using recorded data that tables and graphs are made. Studying tables and graphs, we can see trends that tell us how different variables cause our observations. Based on these trends, we can draw conclusions about the system under study. These conclusions help us confirm or deny our original hypothesis. Often, mathematical equations can be made from graphs. These equations allow us to predict how a change will affect the system without the need to do additional experiments. Advanced levels of experimental science rely heavily on graphical and mathematical analysis of data. At this level, science becomes even more interesting and powerful.

Explain how a solar heat collection panel works

Conclusion:

Using the trends in your experimental data and your experimental observations, try to answer your original questions. Is your hypothesis correct? Now is the time to pull together what happened, and assess the experiments you did.

Related Questions & Answers:

What you have learned may allow you to answer other questions. Many questions are related. Several new questions may have occurred to you while doing experiments. You may now be able to understand or verify things that you discovered when gathering information for the project. Questions lead to more questions, which lead to additional hypothesis that need to be tested.

Possible Errors:

If you did not observe anything different than what happened with your control, the variable you changed may not affect the system you are investigating. If you did not observe a consistent, reproducible trend in your series of experimental runs there may be experimental errors affecting your results. The first thing to check is how you are making your measurements. Is the measurement method questionable or unreliable? Maybe you are reading a scale incorrectly, or maybe the measuring instrument is working erratically.

If you determine that experimental errors are influencing your results, carefully rethink the design of your experiments. Review each step of the procedure to find sources of potential errors. If possible, have a scientist review the procedure with you. Sometimes the designer of an experiment can miss the obvious.

References:

Books related to physics, heat transfer and energy can be used as additional references.

http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/specificandlatentheats/specificandlatentheats.html

http://scifair.acadiau.ca/SFIDEN/ProjectLab/schools/CK/1999/robinson.html (wrong results)

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb2000/951151587.Ph.r.html

http://pals.sri.com/tasks/5-8/ME124/rubric.html

It is always important for students, parents and teachers to know a good source for science related equipment and supplies they need for their science activities. Please note that many online stores for science supplies are managed by MiniScience.

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• Stop Heat from Escaping: Testing Insulation Materials

Hands-on Activity Stop Heat from Escaping: Testing Insulation Materials

Grade Level: 4 (3-5)

Time Required: 45 minutes

Expendable Cost/Group: US $4.00

Group Size: 3

Activity Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Physical Science, Science and Technology

NGSS Performance Expectations:

Curriculum in this Unit Units serve as guides to a particular content or subject area. Nested under units are lessons (in purple) and hands-on activities (in blue). Note that not all lessons and activities will exist under a unit, and instead may exist as "standalone" curriculum.

• Make Your Own Temperature Scale
• How Much Heat Will It Hold?

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Engineering connection, learning objectives, materials list, worksheets and attachments, more curriculum like this, pre-req knowledge, introduction/motivation, vocabulary/definitions, troubleshooting tips, activity extensions, activity scaling, user comments & tips.

The heating and cooling of buildings uses a lot of energy, so engineers continually look for creative ways to reduce the heating and cooling demands, and thus the total amount of energy required. One way to do this is by using insulation. Engineers have developed many types of insulation such as fiberglass, rock wool, mineral wool, natural wool, cotton, straw, cellulose, paper, polyurethane foam, polystyrene foam, polyester and soy foam. Some insulating materials are also suitable for sound proofing.

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Describe how insulation works.
• Demonstrate how some materials insulate better than others.
• Relate effective insulation with energy conservation.
• Describe how energy engineers use insulation in product design.

Educational Standards Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards. All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) , a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org). In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g. , by state; within source by type; e.g. , science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc .

Ngss: next generation science standards - science, common core state standards - math.

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State standards, colorado - math, colorado - science.

Each group needs:

• 4 plastic water or soda bottles, 20-ounce (~590-ml) size
• hot tap water
• thermometer with a Fahrenheit scale
• sheets of newspaper
• large piece of aluminum foil (enough to wrap around a bottle)
• large piece of thick, black plastic bag (enough to wrap around a bottle)
• Stop Heat from Escaping Worksheet

Students should be familiar with the steps of the scientific investigation process.

What does it mean to conserve energy? (Answer: It means using energy wisely and efficiently.) Sometimes people waste energy by not using it wisely. Buildings can often waste great amounts of energy. Most of a building's energy use is for heating or cooling. One way engineers reduce the amount of energy required to heat or cool a building is by using good insulation.

Insulation is a material or substance that is used to prevent the transfer of heat, electricity or sound. In a building, insulation is placed in the walls and roof. When insulating a building, the quality (performance) of an insulation material is measured by how well it keeps heat out or in. Heat flows from warm areas to cool areas. When you touch something that is cold, heat is actually leaving your body to try and warm the cool surface, creating a balance of energy. Insulation helps to prevent that transfer of heat.

Many different materials are used for insulation. Engineers often use fiberglass, wool, cotton, paper (wood cellulose), straw and various types of foams to insulate buildings. A layer of trapped air can serve as insulation, too! Some insulating materials are also suitable for sound proofing.

In this activity, a homeowner has heard about all the different types of insulation that are available to use in a new house and requests your help to decide between wool, newspaper, aluminum foil and plastic to insulate the house. Let's conduct a scientific experiment so we have good information to help the engineering team decide which material would be best.

Before the Activity

Gather materials and make copies of the Stop Heat from Escaping Worksheet .

With the Students

• Divide the class into teams of two to four students each. Hand out a worksheet to each team.
• Remind the students that today we are conducting an engineering investigation. Review the steps of a scientific investigation (see the Vocabulary/Definitions section). Engineers need to understand energy conservation concepts to design more effective home energy systems.
• On the board, write the problem question that will be addressed today. (Example: Which type of insulation would keep my house warmest in the winter?)
• Show the students the four insulation materials to be tested. Ask them to hypothesize which they think is the best insulating material. Have them circle their predictions on their worksheets.
• Wrap the four plastic bottles with equivalent amounts of each material—newspaper, wool sock, aluminum foil and plastic bag—to serve as insulators. (You may want to discuss and determine as a group what this means for your experiment, for example, same material area, weight, thickness; covers same amount of bottle surface; tight or loose plastic on the bottle, etc.)
• Pour equal amounts of hot tap water into each bottle.
• Immediately after the hot water is poured in the bottle, measure its temperature. Record these beginning temperatures on the worksheets. Set aside the water-filled bottles in areas with the same ambient conditions (such as all in shade on the same surface material). 
• For 15 minutes, have students sketch their setups on their worksheets.
• After 15 minutes, again measure and record the (ending) temperature of the water in each bottle.
• To calculate the change in temperature for each bottle, subtract the ending temperature from the beginning temperature.
• Ask the students to determine which material was the best insulator based on their data. Which had the smallest change of temperature? What material(s) do you recommend? How do your findings compare to your predictions?
• As a class, agree on a concluding statement for the experiment based on everyone's research findings. Have the students suggest ideas for potential future insulation tests they may want to conduct.

energy conservation: The wise and efficient use of energy resources, resulting in reduced energy usage.

insulation: A non-conductive material or substance used to prevent the transfer of heat, electricity or sound.

scientific method: 1) Form a hypothesis, 2) make predictions for that hypothesis, 3) test the predictions, and 4) reject or revise the hypothesis based on the research findings.

Pre-Activity Assessment

Drawing: Have students draw pictures of a typical summer clothing outfit and a typical winter clothing outfit. As a class, discuss the differences and why.

Discussion: How do clothes serve as insulation for the human body? Ask students what types of clothes they wear in the summer and what they wear in the winter? What is the difference between the clothing? (Possible answers: Summer clothes allow the heat created by our bodies to dissipate into the surrounding air. Winter clothes, such as heavy winter jackets, sweaters, mittens and hats, trap our body's heat to keep us warm.)

Activity Embedded Assessment

Worksheet: Have student teams work together to use the  Stop Heat from Escaping Worksheet to guide them through the activity as they record data, make sketches and calculations, and answer questions. Review their answers to gauge their mastery of the concepts.

Post-Activity Assessment

Discussion: Which material provides the best insulation? Which would you wear to keep warm in the winter? We all use a great amount of energy in our daily lives. If we were to reduce the amount of energy we use each day, then we would pollute the environment less and our fossil fuel supplies would last longer. Engineers find many ways to conserve energy in our homes, schools and offices. If we built houses with better insulation, less heat would escape through the walls, roof and windows (or less energy would be required to cool our homes). Engineers also must consider the energy cost required to make insulation. Light bulbs with lower energy demand also help conserve energy. 

Insulation Applications: Insulation prevents the transfer of heat, electricity or sound. Have students design a new product using insulation. How many "things" can they think of that involve the idea of insulation? Possible example objects and functions include swimming pool covers, exterior walls and roofs of house in extreme environments, clothing for warmth, ear plugs to block sound, coffee mugs to hold hot liquids, electrical cords to convey electricity and auditoriums 

Safety Issues

Remind the students that glass thermometers are breakable.

If hot water is not available, use water chilled with ice.

Have a digital thermometer handy in case the change in temperature is not large enough to be read from a regular thermometer.

Follow the same experimental procedure using ice-cold water.

Have students measure the temperature on the inside and outside of the bottle and examine the transfer of heat through the insulating material. Does it make a difference where temperature is measured on the outside of the bottle? (At the insulation surface vs. an inch away from the surface?)

Have students research the types of materials used in the construction of buildings and houses, coffee mugs and winter jackets.

Using the information learned from this activity, have students create small model homes using the insulation materials, and test the temperature readings on the inside and outside of the structures.

• To add a math component, have students measure the water temperature every five minutes and create a graph showing temperature vs. time.
• To add a math component, have students report/plot temperature in degrees Celsius or Kelvin, instead of Fahrenheit.

Students test the insulation properties of different materials by timing how long it takes ice cubes to melt in the presence of various insulating materials. Students learn about the role that thermal insulation materials can play in reducing heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation, as...

Students learn about the nature of thermal energy, temperature and how materials store thermal energy. They discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities in which they investigate the difference between temperature, thermal energy and ...

Students learn how the sun can be used for energy. They learn about passive solar heating, lighting and cooking, and active solar engineering technologies (such as photovoltaic arrays and concentrating mirrors) that generate electricity.

Students learn the scientific concepts of temperature, heat and the transfer of heat through conduction, convection and radiation, which are illustrated by comparison to magical spells found in the Harry Potter books.

EERE Consumer's Guide: Your Home: Insulation and Air Sealing . Last updated September 12, 2005. Energy Savers, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. Accessed September 18, 2006. http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/insulation_airsealing/index.cfm/mytopic=11220

Energy Conservation: Yesterday and Today , Chapter 5. Renewable Energy Curriculum, TVA Kids for Teachers, Tennessee Valley Authority. Accessed September 21, 2005. http://www.tvakids.com/teachers/pdf/elementary_ch5.pdf

Contributors

Supporting program, acknowledgements.

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under grants from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation (GK-12 grant no. 0338326). However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: January 13, 2021

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Investigating Heat Loss in Model Animals

Biology Coursework :

This experiment is being conducted to investigate the relationship between insulation (e.g. an animal’s fat and fur), and (body) temperature using water, test tubes and foam insulation.

There are various variables that need to be taken into account during the experiment:

                        Water volume;

                        External factors, e.g. room temperature, wind strength.

                        Type of insulation;

Number of layers of insulation;

Different test tube sizes, e.g.        Width;

                                Height;

                                Glass thickness;

(all affect surface area or insulation).

Scientific Background

We know that in the natural world, body temperature is a very important factor in the ability to survive.  This is demonstrated throughout the world in a variety of different climates.

For example, to survive the severe cold, animals in the Arctic generally have more body fat and thicker, longer fur than those of a hotter climate such as Africa.  This is a demonstration of Bergman's Rule, which states that animals tend to be larger in colder regions for reasons of thermoregulation.  The larger an animal is, the greater its volume, thus the lower its surface area to volume ratio and hence the lower its heat loss.

The two factors that most affect an animal’s body heat retention or loss are its volume to surface area ratio as mentioned above(the ratio of the volume of the animal compared to its surface area), and the amount of insulation it carries around with it.  This insulation is in the form of fat, feathers or fur (e.g. hairs in humans).  The extra bulk greatly reduces heat loss and can make the difference between survival and extinction.

Heat  works by slowing down the  at which energy moves from a warm thing to its cooler surroundings.  A good heat insulator will:

• stop the flow of air which allows convection to happen
• be made of a material which is a bad conductor of heat
• reflect heat radiation back where it is wanted.

Heat loss is a result of energy transfer by heat where the moving molecules of one material increase the energy of the molecules in another.  This occurs in three different ways:

Conduction is when heat energy is passed from one particle to another, close by particle. It is most effective if the particles are close together which is why most good conductors are solids.  Conduction is also improved if the molecules have free electrons, which is why metals are such good conductors.

Insulation reduces conduction because it is a bad conductor of heat itself, and it traps layers of still air.  Stationary air is a bad conductor of heat because air has particles that are spread out and have very few free electrons, meaning that heat can only travel through it very slowly.

Convection is when heat is transferred in a liquid or gas due to the particles moving.  As the particles warm up, the spaces between them expand, making them less dense and thus making them rise.  The cooler particles are more dense and sink, replacing the warmer particles.  This is known as a convection current.

Insulation reduces convection because the air cannot pass through the layers to convect.

Radiation is when a warm object emits infrared electromagnetic radiation, which can be absorbed by other objects, heating them up.  

This is a preview of the whole essay

Radiation is usually reduced by the colour of insulation (eg. fur colour), and so is not very relative to this experiment.

My Experiment

In this experiment will be replacing the animals of the natural world with test tubes of water, whilst their natural insulation of fat and fur will be replaced with one millimetre foam insulation.

The Preliminary Experiment

A preliminary test was carried out using a provisional method which formed the basis for the full experiment.

Five test tubes are taken and labelled A-E, they are then prepared as follows:

• A   (CONTROL)  has no insulation;
• B   is wrapped in two layers of insulation;
• C   is wrapped in four layers of insulation;
• D   is wrapped in six layers of insulation;
• E   is wrapped in eight layers of insulation.

The test tubes are then carefully filled with 20 cm³ of water at (or as near as possible to) 100°C and a bung of cotton wool placed in the top.  The test tubes are then stood in a test tube rack, with those that do not fit placed in a beaker.  The starting temperature of the water is noted and then the water temperature of each test tube is measured using a thermometer every five minutes and the results noted, each time going through the test tubes in the same order.  The process is continued until each test tube reaches a steady temperature (room temperature).

There were various problems with this method which prompted me to make changes for the full experiment.  These were often due to a lack of either equipment or accuracy.

• I discovered that it was very difficult to obtain any water that was actually at 100 ºC, and then to fill all the test tubes separately without there being a large drop in water temperature whilst waiting for water to re-boil.  In the full experiment the water will just be at a high temperature and all the test tubes

filled at the same time, then the starting temperature noted.

• As it is not possible to have a stopwatch running for each test tube, the test tubes will all have to be filled at the same time to make it easier to keep track of them.  When the temperature of each test tube is checked for the first time, the length of time taken to check that test tube will be noted so that it will get checked at intervals of exactly five minutes (after the first check, at least).
• I have discovered that a lot of the heat is lost through the top of the test tube, so in the full experiment I will use bungs to prevent this thus making the experiment more accurately centred round my investigation.
• It is also not possible to have a thermometer for each test tube, so I will be using just the one.  This will be inserted into the test tubes through cotton wool bungs so as to prevent heat loss.

Method (Full Experiment)

Five test tubes of the same size (A,B,C,D,E) are taken and wrapped in 1mm insulation as follows:

• B   is wrapped in two layers of the insulation;
• C   is wrapped in four layers of the insulation;
• D   is wrapped in six layers of the insulation;
• E   is wrapped in eight layers of the insulation.

The test tubes are then carefully filled with 20cm³ of hot water of the same temperature and placed in a rack or in beakers to prevent any spillages.  Bungs of cotton wool are placed in the test tubes, then the temperatures of the test tubes checked with a thermometer to make sure that each test tube is at the same temperature.  This starting temperature is noted.  A stopwatch is then started and every five minutes the temperature of each test tube of water is measured with a thermometer and noted.  This is continued until each test tube of water reaches a constant temperature (room temperature).  The whole experiment is then repeated to ensure accuracy.

Control of Variables & Measurements to be made

All the aforementioned variables will be controlled as best they can, although there may be some problems with the starting water temperature and the room temperature will have to be ignored as it cannot be controlled.  The independent variable will be the amount of insulation.  This will be 1.0mm thick insulation which will cover the whole test tube and wrapped around in layers; it will increase in increments of two layers.  The dependent variable is the temperature of the water as it cools which will be measured accurately with a thermometer every five minutes.  The control in the experiment will be test tube A which has no insulation (though it still has a cotton wool bung).

I predict that the more insulated the test tubes are, the longer it will take for the water inside them to reach room temperature, e.g. the rate of heat loss to slow down as more insulation is added.  This will show that more insulation results in less heat loss.

OBTAINING RESULTS

Table of Results:

1 st  Experiment

2 nd  Experiment

Mean averages of results for both experiments

The graphs all show that the more insulation a test tube had, the slower the water inside it cooled, as was predicted earlier.  The graphs from both experiments show this well, with the results for the two experiments relatively close together.

The difference between the temperature loss in test tube A (which had no insulation) and in test tube B (which had two layers of insulation) when shown on the graphs supports the prediction well.  There is a large gap between the two lines which, on their own show what a difference the insulation makes.

The better insulated the test tubes were, the slower was the rate of heat loss, and thus the shallower the curves were representing this on the graph.

Initially there is a steep fall in temperature, particularly in the uninsulated tube which decreases and levels out as the temperature becomes lower (i.e. that is the graph starts out as a steep curve which flattens out to a horizontal line).  This shows that most heat is lost in the first thirty to forty minutes of the experiment.  The better insulated test tubes lose far less heat in this time than those with less insulation.  For example, from the averages graph, uninsulated test tube A loses 22ºC in water temperature in the first ten minutes of the experiment whilst the most insulated test tube, test tube E, loses only 9.5ºC in the same time.  This is a difference in temperature loss of 12.5ºC.  On average, test tube A did 59.5% of its heat loss in the first ten minutes whilst test tube E did less than half that doing only 25.7% of its heat loss in the same time.  This is a clear indication that insulation makes a large difference at the time when most heat is lost.

Unlike my prediction graph, the results graphs show that although the best insulated test tube shows the slowest heat loss, the beneficial effect of adding more insulation lessens as the insulation gets thicker.  This is shown by the fact that on the graphs the rate of heat loss for the last two test tubes with the thickest insulation, test tubes D and E, are very close together, i.e. their rates of temperature decrease are very similar.  This indicates that adding even more insulation would make a very small difference to the effectiveness.  This would seem to suggest that there is an optimum level of effectiveness for using insulation.  In an animal, this optimum level of insulation means that a compromise would have to be made between insulation for warmth and the bulk and mobility of the animal.

The experiment went well and the results were of a satisfyingly high degree of accuracy, as the two sets of data were close together, meaning that the mean averages of the results were a very good representation overall.  The accuracy of the results was conclusive, and the graphs showed a clear correlation with no obvious anomalous points.  This provided reliable and sufficient evidence to firmly support my earlier prediction, showing clearly that the more layers of insulation there are, the less heat loss there is because there are more layers of trapped air, meaning that less heat loss can occur by conduction and convection.  The results were also indicative enough to enable me to develop other theories and conclusions concerning the effect of insulation and its use in the natural world.

There were, however, various problems with the experiment.  Getting the water temperature for each test tube the same at the beginning of both experiments was very difficult, and so sometimes the closest possible temperature was used instead.  This is why the graphs show that test tube D with 6 mm of insulation beginning at a higher temperature than test tube E which had 8 mm of insulation.

There were other factors that may have affected the accuracy of the experiment.  These problems include the time it took to fill the test tubes, during which the water cooled rapidly.  Also, the time it took to check the temperature of each test tube made the times slightly inexact.  Some heat was also lost when the temperatures were checked because of insertion and removal of the thermometer (though the bungs remained in place).  These problems could be overcome by finding a way to fill all the test tubes at the same time, and by having a separate thermometer for each test tube through a rubber bung, preventing heat loss.

There are several ways in which this investigation could be furthered.  One way is by extending the parameters of this experiment, for example by beginning with the water at a higher temperature, or by taking readings more often, such as every two minutes instead of every five minutes.  To further investigate the theory that insulation thickness is not directly proportional to the rate of heat loss, test tubes with even more layers of insulation could be added to the experiment.  Another way to continue this investigation would be to involve surface area and volume in an experiment thus relating to how heat loss changes in animals of different sizes.  This could be done by looking at heat loss from a larger volume of water in a similar shaped container, for instance a boiling tube instead of a test tube, using the same layers of insulation.

My experiment provided accurate and reliable results to support my conclusion, giving a clearer picture of how animals use insulation to survive the climatic variations of the natural world, whether desert or ice cap.

Document Details

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• Subject Science

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