The Great Insulation Challenge
Your assignment, if you choose to accept it, is to insulate a small container of
ice. You can use any materials you find and use it as insulation to keep the ice
from melting. The better your insulation package, the more slowly the ice will
melt. Later, we will measure the volume any water in your ice package. The
better your insulation, the less liquid water in your container. Your entire
insulating system must fit in the plastic bag along with the container of ice.
The top of your container of ice must be visible at all times and the container
of ice must remain upright.
Materials:
Plastic bag, any materials from home, container of ice (container can be milk
carton, soda can, water bottle, juice box, or whatever; just all containers must
be the same and have the same amount of water in them in the frozen state)
Take the plastic bag home. Use materials you have at home to make the best
insulating package that you can think of. It is fair to ask others what they
would use. Be sure to leave a space in the bag where the ice container will fit.
Bring the bag with insulation with you when you come back to school
tomorrow. We will place the container of ice in your insulation package and
then let all of the packages sit (not touching) for several hours.
At the end of the contest, the ice container will be removed from the insulating
package and the water will be poured into a measuring container.
Whoever had the insulating package that had the least melting of the ice will
be the CHAMPION!
1. Discuss with your classmates why you used the insulating material that you
used and why you thought it would be a good insulating material.
2. Check out the insulating package of the winning entry. What did that
package have that yours didn’t have. What could you do to your package to
make it better?
3. List the insulating material the class tested from best to worst.
4. What makes a good insulating material?