Starter
• Starter activity sheet – Keeping Warm. Children
look at pictures of items that keep/don’t keep us
warm. Sort into 2 piles.
• Introduce project for HOT WATER BOTTLES R
US.
• Next look at pictures of hot water bottles and
invite children to discuss which they like best
and why. Also talk about the features of a hot
water bottles.
Hot Water Bottles
R Us
need you!
Our company has suffered terrible financial losses due to faulty hot water bottle
covers not working. Customers have been returning products and demanding
full refunds. If this continues, the company will have no choice but to shut down.
We desperately need your help!
Your task is to design an amazing, themed hot water bottle that will sell and keep
the customers warm and happy. The product must relate to your target market so
decide who your customers will be and consider what your design will look like
and how your hot water bottle will keep your customers warm and happy.
•Selection of suitable and unsuitable materials/fabrics that
could be used to cover a hot water bottle. Try out in
pairs/fours and record their results on a tick sheet/table.
•After you have completed each task ask them which they
think would be suitable, get them to explain what they
understand and why they made those choices.
Keeping Warm
• Ask do all the materials keep us warm?
Introduce the word ‘insulate’ and explain.
• Ask them what features of the material helps it to
keep something warm [insulate]?
• With these questions have a flipchart and get
pupils to be involved in recording their peers
ideas
Hot Water
• Show them the blanket remind
them they had this picture in
the starter activity sheet
• Ask them why it keeps us
warm?
• Thicker fabric/type of material
• Does the thickness/type of
fabric make a difference?
Keeping water warm
Planning/Discussion
• Explain to them that you are
going to find out which material
will keep water warm for the
longest time
• At this point give each pupil a
post-it note
• Ask them to write on their postit what they think each
material will do? Predict
which material will keep
water warm the longest
(differentiation possibility)
• Tell them they are going to put
out four cups containing the
same amount of warm water.
Reinforce fair testing by talking
about temperature of water,
size of cups/material, amount
of water, amount of
fabric/layers, etc.
• Ask them what they think
about layers of fabric/amount
used.
• thicker
• Get them to stick their postits up around the room
• thinner
Data Loggers can be used for this task or as an extension to this task!
Keeping water warm
Planning/Discussion
How does changing the material effect the
time it takes for the water to cool down?
• In a group of four get them to map out
ideas on a piece of A3 paper how they
could use the work they have done today
and their own knowledge to solve this
problem. Planning boards may be used
[post it planners]
• 15 minutes