1 - Getting Started ~5 mins
Look at this: one ice cube snug in a woolly wrap, and one sitting bare. Which do you think will melt first? More importantly, how could your group test a heating or cooling question of its own, and keep that test fair?
2 - Our Question and Prediction ~7 mins
First job: agree in your group whether you will keep an ice cube frozen as long as you can, or keep a cup of water warm as long as you can.
Once you have chosen, you will see the materials you can use. If you chose ice, you will be comparing wool, foil, paper or bubble wrap. If you chose warm water, you will be comparing plastic, metal and paper cups. The kit itself comes out later, so for now you are only deciding and writing.
Write your question using a shape like these, swapping in your own materials:
- Ice path: Which wrapping keeps an ice cube frozen longest?
- Warm-water path: Which cup keeps water warm longest?
Write your group's question on the planning page of your Investigation Journal. Then say what you think will win, and why.
3 - Plan Our Fair Test ~12 mins
Before we touch the ice or water, we lock in a fair plan so we can trust the result.
On the board you will see three boxes:
- Change — the one thing we swap
- Measure — the result we read
- Keep the same — everything else that must match
That is a fair test. We will sort cards into those boxes for both paths (ice wrapping and warm-water cups). Be ready to suggest where each card goes.
After both board sorts, finish only your own three lines on the Investigation Journal page for the path your group chose.
Plan a heating or cooling fair test
4 - Run Our First Trial ~18 mins
This is the exciting bit: will your prediction hold after about eight minutes? Set up the test your group planned. Change only the one thing on your plan. Agree the same watch time as the class.
When the timer ends, write each Trial 1 rank straight onto your Investigation Journal page: how melted the ice looks, or how warm the water still feels. Today is trial one only. We repeat next time so one odd result cannot fool us.
5 - Record Our Readings ~7 mins
Check your Investigation Journal page: is every Trial 1 rank already written from the end of the timer? Each row should name one material or cup and give one reading beside it, such as wool | half melted.
Keep what we saw or ranked in the Trial 1 column. Cross out any claim words like "so wool is best" — those wait until after the repeats. Leave space for the repeats next time.
Unlock the full learning experience
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.
This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.