We're really stuck on this idea regarding how the particles in the water actually end up in the air. Students are thinking two main things: light and heat! We are thinking that light and heat are different things since we've been in situations where we have light but it's cold, and we've been in the dark when it's warm. We're focusing on light first! Here are a few student ideas about what light does:
We're thinking that the light may transform to heat, since the only way the cups can get water to evaporate is when there is heat, right? So all this discussion prompted us to actually test out various cups in the light and in the absence of light, so with Mrs. Brinza's help, we ran the investigation remotely.
All this data is really tough to look at. There's a lot of confusion about what the data is really telling us. For example,
1. Does a cup need to be in the light to actually warm up?
2. If it doesn't, what is actually happening to get a cup to get warmer over time?
3. If there is light transmitting and reflecting off a cup, where is the other light going? We know it has to go somewhere since they don't total the amount of light coming from the light source...
Looks like we'll have to see what this really means...
1. Does a cup need to be in the light to actually warm up?
2. If it doesn't, what is actually happening to get a cup to get warmer over time?
3. If there is light transmitting and reflecting off a cup, where is the other light going? We know it has to go somewhere since they don't total the amount of light coming from the light source...
Looks like we'll have to see what this really means...