Thermal Energy Evidence Kits · Grade 6 provisional; Grades 6–8 standards band
Choose, Test & Improve a Thermal Protector — print-selections
Free instructional files. Resource downloads and print choices.
Reteach · A proposal needs a relevant test
Fictional response: “The new seam made the sleeve better. Its water finished lower, so the seam alone caused the improvement.”
Room 22°C; cups/lids and duration match, but water mass and start differ. One comparison, not repeated trials. Covered liquid water; cups/lids, duration, exposure and reading procedure match within and across trials. Surroundings stay at the stated room temperature. No ice, phase change, active heating/cooling, direct sunlight or meaningful evaporative cooling. Accuracy is not supplied.
Constructed teaching data: these values were invented for this activity, not collected in an experiment.
| Setup | Water g | Start °C | After 15 min °C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old whole design | 100 | 10 | 16 |
| New whole design | 200 | 12 | 15 |
K6-B1. Calculate each change. What can be described? Why can neither the endpoints nor subtraction isolate a design improvement here?
K6-B2. Plan a more informative comparison. Distinguish comparing old and new complete designs from isolating a seam’s effect. State how you will retain unexpected or missing readings.
Fresh recheck · Whole design or one feature?
Fresh matched 100 g samples starting at 11°C; 23°C room; 15 min. New design changes both seam overlap and layer count; all other conditions match. Covered liquid water; cups/lids, mass, starting temperature, duration, exposure and reading procedure match within and across trials. Surroundings stay at the stated room temperature. No ice, phase change, active heating/cooling, direct sunlight or meaningful evaporative cooling. Each trial uses fresh samples. Accuracy is not supplied.
Constructed teaching data: these values were invented for this activity, not collected in an experiment.
| Paired trial | Old final °C | New final °C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | 15 |
| 2 | 16 | 14 |
| 3 | 17 | 15 |
K6-B3. What does the full matched record support? Does it show that seam overlap alone caused the difference? Propose evidence that would address that narrower question.
A fair comparison of complete designs can change more than one feature. An isolated feature claim needs a comparison that separates that feature from the others.