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Insulation Showdown

Wrap cups of hot water in different materials and graph how fast each one cools to find the best insulator.

Grade 8ExperimentScience OlympiadScienceEngineeringPhysicsEnergyData AnalysisIntermediate50 to 80 min6 materialsAdult supervision required

What you'll learn

  • Define conduction, convection and radiation
  • Record temperature at regular intervals and graph it
  • Rank materials as insulators using data

Objective

Compare how different insulating materials slow heat loss and explain the results using heat transfer.

STEM concepts

Heat transferInsulationConductionCooling curves
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Materials and safety
Step-by-step instructions
Prediction, test sheet and results
Why does it work, challenge and project report

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