Designing Modifications to Enhance the Rate of Cooling

Students will design a method to promote heat loss from an aluminum can full of hot water and test modifications to their design. Modelled on removing excess heat from electronic components, the lab tests different methods of removing heat and meets the NGSS engineering standards. Following a control experiment, student groups develop a modification to increase the rate of heat loss, which is monitored with a teacher check-in, to ensure good design and understanding. A second but similar design is used to help understand the effectiveness of the design and provide data for analysis and a conclusion. Students collect data from all experiments and graph the results on a single graph. A group presentations of the various designs to the class is provided as a summative assessment. Extensions to other areas of science or methods of assessment are possible.