OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

This is modified from OpenSciEd under the Creative Common 4.0 License. We carry out an investigation to test the interaction between light and the cup surface in warming up the cold water inside the cups. We shine light on cups with walls of different materials and colors and measure the amount of incoming, reflected, and transmitted light, and we also place some cups in a completely dark condition. This is measured by a micro:bit programmed to measure light. We figure out that the water in all the cups warms up, even cups in the dark condition, but it warms up more in the cups in the light conditions. We wonder about additional mechanisms by which the water inside the cups warms up.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Science, Technology
• Grade Level : 6-8, 9-12
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Computing Systems
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Collaborating Around Computing, Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems, Developing and Using Abstractions, Creating Computational Artifacts
• Materials:
  • Micro:bit
• Considerations:
  • This lesson is part of OpenSciEd’s sixth grade integrated science curriculum. This unit is on thermal energy. I chose this lesson to modify because it can be taught in isolation of the entire unit for teachers who are interested in teaching about the relationship between light energy and electromagnetic energy.

Lesson Plan

Overview

This is modified from OpenSciEd under the Creative Common 4.0 License. We carry out an investigation to test the interaction between light and the cup surface in warming up the cold water inside the cups. We shine light on cups with walls of different materials and colors and measure the amount of incoming, reflected, and transmitted light, and we also place some cups in a completely dark condition. This is measured by a micro:bit programmed to measure light. We figure out that the water in all the cups warms up, even cups in the dark condition, but it warms up more in the cups in the light conditions. We wonder about additional mechanisms by which the water inside the cups warms up.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

Intro-

’ So we’ve been thinking about these clear plastic cups and we know that light passes through their walls. When we discussed your models, some of you mentioned blocking the light, so that got me thinking about using cups that could reflect some or all of the light. These types of cups are common, like the cups you can buy for a birthday party. There are other types of plastic cups that are solid colors (hold up/point to an opaque cup). We’ve also thought about metal cups.'

Pre-questions-

1. Do you think light would affect water in an opaque cup in the same way as in the clear plastic cup? What do you think would be similar or different? Share your reasoning.
2. Do you think light might affect the water’s temperature differently in the different cups, or not? Share your reasoning.
3. Do you think that the cup’s color would affect the water’s temperature? Why or why not?

Post-questions-

1. How does a cup’s surface affect how light warms up a liquid inside the cup?
2. How did the water warm up if light couldn’t pass through the cup wall or when there was no light at all?

OBJECTIVES

Develop and use models to describe how light transmission through, reflection off, and absorption by cup walls causes changes in the temperature (effect) of water inside the cup.

CATCH/HOOK

Hook for activity-

Elicit students’ predictions. Bring the class together and poll students’ ideas about how the water temperature in an opaque cup would compare to the water temperature in a clear plastic cup if they were left in the light for the same amount of time. Say, Do you think light might affect the water’s temperature differently in the different cups, or not? Have students raise their hand to indicate which statement they agree with: say, Raise your hand if you think that the water in the opaque cup would be warmer than the water in the clear plastic cup … cooler than the water in the clear plastic cup … the same as the water in the clear plastic cup.

Hook for programming micro:bit- Review our past experiences with micro:bits. Ask students to summarize past experiments with micro:bits. Ask them to predict how we will be using them here. Ask them why we might use them instead of an instrument designed specifically for a single purpose.

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

1. NAVIGATION Prompt students to revisit their ideas from Lesson 7 about how light affects the temperature of water inside a clear plastic cup and how to test their ideas through investigation.
2. PROGRAM THE MICRO:BITS Have students sync their MICRO:BITS with their iPads. Have students program a simple light meter.
3. LIGHT AND TEMPERATURE INVESTIGATION CONT. Monitor students as they conduct an investigation of how light warms up water differently in cups with different surfaces. Place a set of cups in the dark as well. Demonstrate how to take light readings. Collect and record temperature and light measurements
4. ANALYZE DATA FROM LIGHT AND TEMPERATURE INVESTIGATION Facilitate a Building Understandings Discussion to conclude students’ analysis and interpretation of data from the light and temperature investigation.
5. DEVELOP MODELS TO EXPLAIN TEMPERATURE CHANGE Guide students as they draw models to explain how light warmed up water differently in clear versus opaque cups.

Supplements

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REVIEW

Develop models to explain findings. Explain that we’re going to draw models to explain how and why the water warmed differently in the various cups. Distribute the handout Explaining Temperature Changes in Each Cup to each student. Explain that the models focus on one area of the cup wall and that the illustrations include a light ray that represents the incoming light that we measured. Students’ models should account for the data collected about how the percentages of reflected and transmitted light differed between the cups and how those differences affected the changes in water temperature.

STANDARDS