Learning Goals
Students will be able to plan fair investigations of how material type, liquid mass, and cup structure affect temperature change by controlling variables and collecting quantitative evidence
Students will be able to analyze temperature data from cup investigations to determine how materials, air gaps, lids, and wall structures change the rate at which liquids warm or cool
Students will be able to model thermal energy transfer between warmer and cooler matter through particle collisions and changes in average particle kinetic energy
Students will be able to design and safely test a teacher-approved device that absorbs or releases thermal energy through a chemical process
Students will be able to generate and evaluate alternative insulated cup concepts using measurable criteria, constraints, scientific principles, and performance trade-offs
Students will be able to revise and communicate an insulated cup design using test failures, peer feedback, and Progress Tracker reflections as evidence for improvement
Products
Thermal Cup Engineering Design Portfolio
Each student submits an investigation plan, temperature data and graph, particle model, multiple annotated cup concepts, a decision comparison, safe chemical hot-or-cold-pack analysis, and an evidence-based explanation of revisions. Progress Tracker entries document scientific learning plus one academic and one social or emotional goal after each investigation.
Tested Insulated Cup Prototype and Cool Cup Convention Data Poster
Each team builds, tests, and revises a double-wall insulated cup system, then displays the final prototype with a poster showing criteria and constraints, temperature evidence, a labeled particle-level diagram, trade-offs, limitations, and evidence that prompted design changes. Team members present and answer questions at the Cool Cup Convention without tasting or drinking investigation liquids.
No rubric has been generated yet.