Crystal
Year Group:
Yr 3
SHORT TERM PLAN INVESTIGATING MATERIALS - INSULATION
Class Name / Number:
Class
Pupil Age:
size:
Date:
Subject / Theme of Lesson:
Insulation - Materials that keep a given
temperature for longer
NC References:
Links with previous session:
That they have handled and discussed properties of
materials
Link to next session:
Designing a cool/hot box for a picnic and/or
Materials to keep people safe –divers etc.
KS1 Sc3 1b.2c:
Prior achievement: How we keep warm in the winter, cool in the summer – you could try over dressing one
child and under dressing another ( I mean 2 coats and scarves etc on one and just pe shorts and t shirt on the
other – have them give a running commentary to the class for 5 mins saying how they feel changes
Links to PSHE, Citizenship or Global Citizenship:
Links to ECM:
Resources:
A range of sample materials to handle and feel
6 straight sided china mugs, plasticine , rubber bands
Standard sized circles – like jam pot covers – of
materials
Digital thermometer, sq. paper, coloured pens
ICT Opportunities:
Datalogger, IWB, digital thermometer – much better than
the glass type –and safer too), digital camera, laptop
Vocabulary:
Insulation, hotter, cooler, temperature, change,
investigation, record
Target QTS Standards:
Focus for personal reflection:
Learning Objective(s): (Probably too many here)
Success criteria: (These can be graded for
That some materials have efficient insulation properties
That the temperature of anything tries to change to be the
same as the air temperature around it
That warm or hot air rises
That some materials can slow down the change and keep
the temperature difference for loger depending on their
insulating properties
That trapped air is a good insulator
differentiation)
I can measure temperature in degree c
I can record temp change fairly
I can carry out a fair test and repeat records at least three
times
I can grade materials by their insulation properties
I can recognize insulators in use every day
I can explain how insulators work.
Possible homework:
Make a list of insulators around and in the home –sort
then into keep hotter and keep cooler
How the learning will be assessed:
Written records, photographs, charts and graphs, key questions, mini plenaries, self assess (thumbs or traffic lights), TA
feedback observing teamwork, listening to discussion, listening to others, determination and perseverance
Timing
Overview of whole class work ( eg Mental/oral, lesson Introduction)
10 mins
I had a hot cup of tea and it’s now gone cold. What has happened to it?
(Don’t ask why has it gone cold because that leads to misunderstanding. You are looking for factors affecting
change.)
I had an ice cool cup of squash but now it’s got warm. What has happened to it?
You want the children to discuss ways to keep the heat or coolness – you need to bring in materials here.
What materials should I use to wrap my drink in?
Introduce insulation and what it means – how the children insulated?
Whole class discussion on materials – venn diagram on board or hoops on the floor – which material insulates
the best.
Discuss L.O. s and say Which materials would make the best insulators. Make a list of predictions to test
against
Planning the investigations: A Hot Drink and a Cool Drink – cup of tea and a cold coke
Measure temp. record, predict next temp, record, compare etc. Start chart – consider where you do the work
and how long and how many recordings
Learning Objectives for group/individual work (if
different):
Heat escape upwards – hot air rises ?
To measure temperature accurately
To repeat and average measurements 3 X – if appropriate
That a fair test needs a control and to eliminate as many
variables as possible
Success criteria:
I can record what I see accurately
I can carry out a fair test
I can explain temperature change
I can give a useful answer to the starter
questions
How the learning will be assessed:
Obs notes by the teacher, key questions by the teacher and the TA, discussion with learning partners
and thumbsigns
Formative & diagnostic in the written notes, charts and presentations and oral key questioning
Timing
Group activities (including differentiation): This session could be hot and cold or every one doing one
30 mins
or other. This depends on what you want them to discover. I would go for both to show the common thermal
properties of insulating materials – they are good at keeping hotter and cooler – they are simply good at
slowing change.
2 groups Hotter and Cooler (H & C)
E.g. H gp
#Safely secured hot water drink – very hot tap water will do – stand cup in a plasticine ring
# Observe – any signs such as rising vapour – feel air above – what is going on?
#How can we make the temperature change slow? Measure a ‘five minute once a minute’
range and record – draw a graph and explain the change
#Investigation – consider two samples of the range of materials to use. Write reasons for
choice
#Label mugs c-control and A & B
#Insert Datalogger probe or take reading at the start of 5 mins
#Cover mugs A and B and secure with band - leave control open
#Design a simple recording sheet A B and C
#Record temperature of all 3 every minute for 5 minutes
#Clean all mugs in cold water and dry well and replace in the rings
#Repeat as above with same materials – if there was time we would say 3 times but 2 will
make the point for accuracy
#Record second set of readings separately as above
#Clear away mugs and liquids, use the readings to make a chart or graph line with time on
the y axis along the bottom and temp. in C up the x axis
#Create graphs for both investigations
#Compare notes and then prepare a statement presentation for the plenary
Timing
Plenary activities:
Investigation Teams – (You might have allocated materials to the groups to avoid doubling up but you run
15 mins
the risk here of merely repeating the exercise when this is supposed to be as original an investigation as
possible)
What does a fair test let us discover? What did we discover? Have you found a good
insulator I could use to keep my tea warm? Is there one best answer? Did we carry out a
FAIR test?
What did each group discover – each group will give their seminar explaining what they were asked
to explore, the questions they asked, what they observed, how they set up the fair test, what and
how they recorded the findings, how they have presented the findings and finally how they have
interpreted the findings.
So which material is most likely to keep my tea warmer for longer?
Is there a commercial solution to this problem? (produce a thermos or insulated drinking cup.)
Now reveal the magic ingredient – what is it about the best material that makes iut a good insulator
– colour? (is red better than green? – amount of stuff? – AIR, what happens when air is trapped in a
layer against a hot or a cold surface? How does a spaceman stay unfrozen in space?
Next session – use the display to inform and then work on cooler unless you already did both in
this session depending on numbers and class organisation
How and what did we learn? Review main learning objectives
Notes and ideas on insulation
Bitesize notes ( Not my text) - a reasonable starting point)
Children from this Year 3 class used an activity from the BBC Schools Bitesize website to investigate the use of
different materials for insulation. The teacher demonstrated the software to the class and then allowed children
to work through the experiment in pairs.
This is a neat little virtual experiment on the insulating properties of various materials. The resource is well
supported with online and off-line lesson plans, a worksheet and a quiz. The activity provides a container full of
a virtual liquid, which is initially at 70ºC while the room temperature is 18. The thermometer indicates the
change in temperature over a period of 60 minutes (speeded up – not in real time). The simulation may be
paused at any time and clicking on the Table button brings up a table where it is possible to enter the
temperature readings. The beaker can be virtually wrapped with polystyrene, cardboard or metal foil and the
Bitesize.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/activities/keeping_warm.shtml
experiment repeated to see how the cooling times are changed. You can find it on
National Curriculum Science KS1 Sc3 1b.2c:
Teacher TV Insulation video with a year 4 class.
You could do this but without the datalogger.- I have one you can borrow if you want one –that’ll impress them!
http://download.teachers.tv/download/C1600004_500k.wmv
You might need to register for teacher tv if you have not already done so.
Primary Works
http://www.primaryworks.co.uk/product/keeping-warm-ks2/88
Extracts from a ppt they have for sale – you can probably get enough from the website pictures if you hold
control and role the wheel in on the mouse to make the page bigger
Beware of the off the shelf ideas because they won’t suit all your needs!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Having said that, this does look as though it could be useful
http://www.marshallbrain.com/science/insulation.htm
Another useful reference with a u tube video that takes a long time to load so to stop you falling apart with
boredom, here is an extract from the text followed by my take on this. Eventually I will show what this all might
look like on a plan….
http://youtube.com/watch?v=x77Z9UC1Fc4
Insulation keeps hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold. A blanket is a good example of an insulator - a blanket keeps you warm at night. In the
video we tried several different types of insulation (including paper towels, newspaper and aluminum foil) to see which one would do the
best job of keeping heat in. You can try anything you like.
In the video we came up with a hypothesis about which insulator we thought would do best. A hypothesis is just an educated guess about
what we think will happen when we run the experiment. In the video, we guessed that paper towels would be the best insulator because
they are the thickest, fluffiest insulator we tried.
To test different types of insulation, here is what you need:
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Some Styrofoam cups
Different types of insulation cut in circles so they cover the top of the cup
Hot water from the tap
A container to hold the hot water so you can pour it in the cups
Thermometer
Set up your Styrofoam cups and pour the same amount of hot water in each of them. Do not fill them to the brim -- we do not want to get
our insulation wet. Leave maybe an inch of air space. You may want to double up or triple the Styrofoam cups (we doubled them in the
video - this provides more insulation on the sides of the cup).
Measure the starting temperature in the cups. It will take about 30 seconds for the thermometer to settle on the right temperature as you
move from cup to cup. The starting temperature should be the same in all cups.
Now cover the cups with the different types of insulation you are testing. Every 10 or 15 minutes (you can choose any time interval you
like for your experiment), measure and record the temperature in each cup. To do this, you will want to lift off the insulation, stick the
thermometer in the water for 30 seconds to get an accurate reading, immediately put the insulation back on and then record the
temperature. Try to keep the insulating cover off the cup for the shortest amount of time possible. In the video, our procedure was to
remove the cover, stir the water vigorously to get the temperature uniform throughout the cup, measure the temperature at the top of the
water (could have just as easily been the bottom) for 30 seconds, and then immediately replace the insulating cover.
You can try all kinds of different types of insulation at home. Try plastic wrap, Styrofoam, bubble wrap, dried leaves, insulation from the
attic� anything really. You can test different thicknesses. You could try cold water instead of hot water, or hot pieces of metal (make sure
they are identical) instead of hot water. Try anything! Have fun performing your own science experiments!
Bonus question: Why did aluminum foil work better than paper towels alone? What is it about aluminum foil that helps it keep heat in?
Do some research and see what you can find. Hint: There are three ways that heat dissipates: radiation, conduction and convection. Your
research may help you think of other types of insulation that will work well.
What I like:
If you are going to use the problem solving approach like the cup of tea problem then it would be a good idea
not to waste time wrapping the whole cup in the various materials even if you could. It does seem a good idea
to leave everything the same and just use the materials as lids because heat rises so that is another concept
you can have as an objective and by doing this you limit the potential variables such as wrapping the cups all
the same. The handle of the mug creates a space inside the wrapping which might affect the way the whole
cools down.
Another standard is to have all the cups in the same place, not one on the radiator and one in the sink etc.
What I don’t like:
This is too long and too complicated to follow even though the idea is good. They use too many materials so I
can only assume this is for KS 100 or university. The other problem is that this is American and please do not
think this is a comment on the quality of American education –it is. The chap is making sense but he sounds
like he is selling something dodgy on the market. Where are the children? How do you know he is serious?
Anyway, you will make the most of it I am sure.
I don’t know how excited you get by all this but then I am the original science geek. The questions asked on this
site are very good. I am not suggesting that you teach about the space elevator to year 3 – yet, but the article is
very interesting - well that’s my opinion anyway.
Ideas for Leaning Objectives
That the temperature of anything tries to change to be the same as the air temperature around it
That warm or hot air rises
That some materials can slow down the change and keep the temperature difference for loger depending on
their insulating properties
That trapped air is a good insulator
That a reflective material can act as an insulator
That the speed of temperature change to match the air around ( equalization to ambient – fancy eh?) can be
measured and recorded which means that materials can be graded for insulation
That we use heat insulators ( or cool insulators) everyday – clothing, thermos, fridge, sunshade, etc.
That insulators do not make things hotter or cooler, they simple slow the change down – big and common
misconception this.
That insulation materials are the same for keeping cool and hot – the work is the same i.e. to slow change
Ideas for Success Criteria
I can measure temperature in degree c
I can record temp change fairly
I can carry out a fair test and repeat records at least three times
I can grade materials by their insulation properties
I can recognize insulators in use every day
I can explain how insulators work.
Notes on materials – for the sake of a lesson, try to have materials the same area size, maybe 20x20
because you will want children to hold them and feel then wrapped around their hands – be careful of foil and
cling film: one breaks and the other can stop small persons breathing
Use the materials you have available and here is a brief list of materials I have used in class:
Cloth – old shirt or tuxedo suit ( minus the wearer) – cotton or linen and then a rayon or polyester (this comes
under the category of plastic material and is often used in posh frocks – be careful of irate owners.)
Plastic bag – cut up a carrier bag
Styrofoam cup – try and get a bigger one and break it up or else the children with think the cup is the material
and not the Styrofoam
Bubble wrap – go for the small bubbles if you can as this is easier to cut and provides less incentive for the
‘poppers’
Wool – I destroyed granny’s Great Christmas Woolie for this and there might not be so may about nowadays
Paper – newspaper is as good as any as you can get plenty of it
Neoprene – actually quite easy to obtain either by writing and asking for samples from a company like O3 on
Portland – or try this one…
http://www.profabrics.co.uk/
Samples : We are happy to supply samples of our fabrics - please refer to the samples page on our website.
You might think of other materials that act like liquids or are in bits like the beads in bean bags or the little sshaped bits you get in packing. These are very useful but problematical when it comes to wrapping – These are
essentially bubble wrap in a different form since, like bubble wrap, they are little bubbles of trapped air.
So……………
Suggested lesson Idea
Start with a problem or two problems
How can I keep my drink cool in the summer?
How can I keep my drink warm in the winter?
You are investigating a range of materials to see which ones slow the temperature change the most (are the
best insulators)
You handle the materials, discuss assumed properties, Make reasoned guesses as to which materials have the
best properties to use.
Predict which will be the best insulator
You devise a fair test to discover the change of temperature rate using the range of insulators
You record the data, handle it into graphs or other charts etc. and present your findings.
Success here is a record someone can follow to achieve the same results
See the plan at the top………………. These are ideas only and should be treated with caution. Remember to
keep the session very simple – there is far too much here unless you are planning a sequence of investigations
and good luck and I would like to see your own plan even if you now decide that a session on grass cutting will
make a great deal more sense.