Our investigations with our lids have certainly given us some useful data, all with some understanding that we need to make sure we're controlling variables!
Our initial investigation with our lids on and off proved interesting! We had to run the experiments twice since we had such unreliable data. After the second round of tests, we concluded that the lid does indeed make a difference since we saw more of a difference in the temperature change without the lid present as compared with the lid being on the cup.
Our initial investigation with our lids on and off proved interesting! We had to run the experiments twice since we had such unreliable data. After the second round of tests, we concluded that the lid does indeed make a difference since we saw more of a difference in the temperature change without the lid present as compared with the lid being on the cup.
After sharing our thinking publicly, we were thinking that the heat was escaping the cup and that the cold air was coming in. Or maybe it was the hot air leaving and not just heat. Or maybe it was water leaving the cup, too, as it evaporated. This got us thinking about what heat really is, or what cold is, or if heat has weight, or if its particles or not...
So we all agreed that we should use a scale to help us figure this out. If something is leaving the cups, and it does have weight, then we could see a weight change. We are thinking that the lid might prevent something from leaving the cup, too! But if the weight doesn't change weight andd we see a temperature change, then we are thinking that what leaves (or enters) the cup doesn't have weight.
So we all agreed that we should use a scale to help us figure this out. If something is leaving the cups, and it does have weight, then we could see a weight change. We are thinking that the lid might prevent something from leaving the cup, too! But if the weight doesn't change weight andd we see a temperature change, then we are thinking that what leaves (or enters) the cup doesn't have weight.
Looking at the class' average mass change was certainly enlightening to us! We've got some interesting data to help us figure out what is really happening when there is a lid on a cup! We're going to try and make sense of what's happening over the next few days!