Scorching swings and slides
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- conduct an investigation into the transfer of heat to different materials.
- make predictions and claims about what will happen to the temperature of different materials placed in the sun.
- observe, record and interpret the results of their investigation.
- identify the differences in conductivity of different materials.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- use oral, written and visual language to record and discuss investigation results.
- record data in a table.
- discuss findings and compare results.
In this lesson, assessment is formative.
Lesson 6 will focus on summative assessment of the skills of science inquiry. By focusing your formative feedback for students on these skills during this lesson, they have an opportunity to further develop them prior to summative assessment.
Feedback might focus on:
- how students have written their question for investigations.
- how closely they follow to fair testing principles.
- supporting students to suggest ways to improve the validity of their results.
- how strongly their evidence supports their claims.
Whole class
Class science journal (hard-copy or digital)
Demonstration copy of Hot water investigation planner Resource sheet
Demonstration copy of Variables grid Resource sheet (or make your own)
Each group
3 spoons (or sticks/skewers) of similar size made of different materials, for example plastic, wood and metal.
- You may use only 1 spoon per group if you have difficulty sourcing this many metal/wooden spoons. Simply allow the spoons to return to ambient temperature before placing near the next heat source.
- In previous investigations students tested how metal heated up. In this investigation you might test a metal object again. This time the temperature of the objects will be measured more accurately, and over a longer period of time.
A timing device for each team
Optional: device for taking photos
Access to warm water
Each student
Individual science journal (hard-copy or digital)
Hot water investigation planner Resource sheet
Safety note
Any water used in a classroom should be at or below 43°C.
Lesson
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkRe-orient
Review the previous lesson. Focus on which ground surface/s was identified as getting the warmest during a sunny day, and why students think that.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying and constructing questions is the creative driver of the inquiry process. It allows students to explore what they know and how they know it. During the Inquire phase of the LIA Framework, the Question routine allows for past activities to be reviewed and to set the scene for the investigation that students will undertake. The use of effective questioning techniques can influence students’ view and interpretation of upcoming content, open them to exploration and link to their current interests and science capital.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to spend some time considering the mindset of students at the start of each Inquire phase. What do you want students to be thinking about, what do they already know and what is the best way for them to approach the task? What might tap into their curiosity?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkConsidering playground materials
Refer back to the section of the mind map created in the Launch phase where students identified the materials that are found in a playground.
- What materials are the equipment in an outdoor playground usually made of?
- Why do you think they use these materials?
- During our previous investigation about how heat moves, we found that metal will heat up when placed in the sun, but what about other materials we find in a playground?
- Do you think these materials will get warm, or hot when placed in the sun? Why?
- How can we determine how hot each material gets?
By referring back to the student questions asked during the Launch phase, and through questioning and discussion, determine that it would be advantageous to know which common playground materials heat up the most when they come into contact with a heat source.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkPlanning to test heat conductivity
Plan a fair test investigation to find out what happens to different materials when they are put in contact with a heat source. In the previous investigation the sun was used as a heat source. Discuss alternative heat sources that might be used for the investigation, safely and cheaply.
Explain that the class will use warm water as their heat source. Discuss.
- When does water become hot? Why do you think that?
- Does it always stay hot? Why do you think that happens?
Students will test how well different materials transfer/conduct heat. They will use three spoons (or sticks/skewers) made of different materials: wood, plastic and metal. Refer back to the mind map from the Launch phase and the materials students identified as being commonly present in a playground. Support students to make the connection between the materials commonly found in a playground, and the materials the spoons are made of.
Using a demonstration variables grid, begin with the broad question ‘What things might affect how much a spoon heats up in hot water?’ Identify that the thing to be changed in the investigation is the type of material, and place that in the centre of the grid. Brainstorm other variables in the surrounding columns/rows. Sections can be added or removed as required. Some example answers might be: how long the spoon is in the water, the temperature of the water, how much of the spoon is in the water, the volume of water, what the spoon is made from.
Discuss ways to keep the investigation fair.
- What if we put one spoon in a cup with a little bit of water and one spoon in a cup with a lot of water?
- What if we put one spoon in very hot water and one in warm water?
Discuss how students might collect, record and represent their data:
- NO TECH: Using a hotness scale determined by each group. You will need to discuss how to keep this manner of determining temperature as fair as possible.
- LOW TECH: Use a glass thermometer, placed on the surface for a specific time period before measurements are read.
- HIGH TECH: Use a radar/surface temperature thermometer.
- How might we measure the temperatures of each object?
- How will we record these temperatures? How often should we record them?
- When might we measure the temperature of the objects?
- Is it important to take a measurement of their temperature before we put them in the hot water? Why do you think that?
- Yes, so we can more easily tell if they have heated up, and how much they have heated up over time.
Writing questions for investigation
How do we turn a general question into one that can be scientifically investigated?
In this task, students have an opportunity to consider a general question about putting materials in contact with a heat source. A variables grid can be used to turn a broad question into an investigable one.
Investigable questions are characterised by their clear identification of what is being changed and what is being measured in a fair test, supporting students to investigate a specific physical phenomena.
This enables them to plan a fair-test investigation. The question they have devised can be answered empirically, and data can be collected to support and justify claims made.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkInvestigating conductivity
In collaborative learning teams, and using the investigation planner, students plan, conduct and record the findings of a fair test investigation to answer the question: What happens to the temperature of the spoon (or stick) when we change what it is made from?
The level of modelling/scaffolding you provide students on how to complete their investigation planner will depend on their level of experience in conducting fair tests in this manner.
Students represent their data as it is being collected.
After the final temperature measurements have been taken, allow students time to analyse their results, and encourage them to, as a group, make a claim about which material heats up the most when in contact with heat source, referring to their data as proof.
Teams might complete a sentence stem such as “……… warms up the most when in contact with a heat source (the warm water)… We think this because…”
Individual students might also represent the transfer of heat from the water to the objects by drawing a labelled diagram in their science journals.
Collaboration
Support students to reflect on their collaborative skills.
Students can engage in reflective practice, with a focus on the General capability of Personal and social capability using the Working in teams self-assessment (WITSA) tool.
Students can engage in reflective practice, with a focus on the General capability of Personal and social capability using the Working in teams self-assessment (WITSA) tool.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkFollowing an investigation, the Integrate routine provides time and space for data to be evaluated and insights to be synthesized. It reveals new insights, consolidates and refines representations, generalises context and broadens students’ perspectives. It allows student thinking to become visible and opens formative feedback opportunities. It may also lead to further questions being asked, allowing the Inquire phase to start again.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment that was undertaken during the Launch phase. Consider if alternative conceptions could be used as a jumping off point to discussions. How could students represent their learning in a way that would support formative feedback opportunities? Could small summative assessment occur at different stages in the teaching sequence?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkWhat claims can we make about a material’s conductivity?
Teams share and discuss the findings of their investigations. Guide the students through the process.
- What happened to the temperature of the materials when they were in contact with the hot water? Why?
- Were there any differences between the materials? For example, was there a difference in how hot they became? Why?
The audience is encouraged to agree or disagree with the findings, or question the presenting team using science question starters.
Optional: You might like to introduce students to the QCER framework to support this form of science argumentation.
After class discussion, allow students time to complete/add to this section of their investigation planner.
Discuss and identify which object had the greatest change in temperature, and which object changed its temperature the fastest.
- Are the objects that had the greatest change in temperature and the objects that changed their temperature the fastest made from the same material?
- Discuss the type of material the object/objects are made from.
- Are these materials good conductors of heat? Do they allow heat to transfer easily and quickly?
- Which would be the best conductor?
- The metal spoon, because it becomes the hottest the most quickly, and cools down more quickly too.
- Can you give an example of where and why we use metal in real life because we want it to conduct heat effectively?
- Do you think the same ideas would apply in a playground? Do we want our playground equipment to conduct heat easily and effectively? Why? Why not?
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- review the list of questions in the class science journal. Determine which questions have been answered during the session and add any new questions that have arisen.
- add to the class word wall.
- re-examine the intended learning goals for the lesson and consider how they were achieved.
- evaluate the importance of fair-testing principles and how they are an essential element for reliable scientific discovery, including discussing how future investigations may be improved.