Insulation Science Experiment

It's terrific Tuesday and we started off the week with yet another science experiment from my STEM unit.  Ok I think this experiment was the best so far.  Thank you to my wonderful colleague who shared this with me.  It was the icing on the cake!

Today we decided to test different materials to see which one was the best insulator:

Foam

Rubber

Cotton

Wool

Blubber

Materials needed are a bucket, ice, and a ziplock bag.  That's all!  

Step one:  Prediction

What material will make the best insulator?

Step two:  Experiment

Try all materials to see which material is the warmest.  My kiddos were so excited to try out the blubber glove, cotton glove, and all the materials.

Step Three:  Collect Data

We rated each material from 1 to 5.  1 being the warmest and 5 being the coldest.

Then we used our interactive whiteboard and recorded our findings with tally marks!

Step Four:  Reflection

Together as a class we reflected on our findings.  For our class we decided blubber was the warmest.  We also make personal connections by asking essential questions like what did this make you think of?  One kiddo answered, "Massachusetts, because I used to live in the cold."

So cute :)