MentorTeaching Cool-Water Design Investigation — optional P1 classroom companion v1.0.0
Staged, not published. Start with the included p1/teacher/P1-v1.0.0-Teacher-Guide.pdf; its one-page quick start and operational instructions specify materials, preparation, supervision, measurement checks, cleanup and access alternatives.
The included p1/student/P1-v1.0.0-Student-Packet.pdf is the full student packet. Editable DOCX and usable HTML are beside each PDF.
Print choices in p1/print-selections: Prepare-and-Run-the-First-Comparison; Redesign-and-Retest; Compare-the-Results-and-Reflect. The separate Use-a-Later-Reasoning-Check preserves a still-unseen later check. Exact page/task mappings are in the teacher guide; full packet previews expose later work.
Blank record forms: p1/record-sheets/P1-v1.0.0-Blank-Empirical-Record-Forms.pdf, with DOCX/HTML and editable CSV in p1/data. Actual local readings remain blank until measured; retain raw records, missing values and departures.
Teacher supervision and school procedures apply. Actual instrument suitability, manufacturer immersion/response requirements and local consistency checks must be confirmed. No physical execution, guaranteed thermal difference, classroom effectiveness, instrument accuracy or universal safety certification is claimed.
The supplied-data route is complete inside this ZIP and needs paper/pencil. All completed supplied numerical records are constructed teaching data, not empirical results; analyzing them does not show that a learner constructed or tested a physical device.
Grade6 provisional within Grades6-8 standards band. Oral, labeled and prose responses are accepted. Human content review is not a required publication gate; voluntary feedback is optional. Final independent review decisions are in the separate production release report.
Classroom copying/adaptation follows https://mentorteaching.com/terms-of-use/; external rights not granted. This standalone companion does not require StartHere or other kit downloads to use its protocol/fallback.
# P1 Cool-Water Design Investigation — methods and limitations

Version 1.0.0. Production author note, 30 September 2026.

P1 is an optional supervised classroom thermal-protection investigation. The canonical source is `p1_content.py`. No physical run was performed during authorship. All six completed example records are explicitly author-constructed fictional values, not empirical measurements or computational simulations. Blank records contain no supplied measurements. Classroom effectiveness and actual learner construction/testing are not established by these files.

The method uses three identical stable rigid plastic cups with identical loose covers and pre-existing probe openings. P0 is bare; P1 has one dry side sleeve; P2 is a declared redesign. Each concurrent pair contains fresh 150 mL cool water in each cup. First comparisons are P0/P1; redesign comparisons are P1/P2. The original P1 is retained as the identified concurrent retest reference. Three fresh paired trials per phase permit discussion of variation; three readings within one run are not independent trials. Three trials are an instructional design choice, not a reliability guarantee.

Standard conditions are room air 20–24 °C and matched starting water 12–14 °C, with the air at least 6 °C warmer. Operational matching tolerance is 0.5 °C; volume allowance is 2 mL; room change over 1 °C and timing outside the stated window are flagged. These limits are author choices for this lesson, not statistical uncertainty intervals or empirically validated thresholds. No numeric thermal pass criterion is promised for an untested classroom.

Suitable non-glass probes must show 0.1 °C increments and meet the selected maker's water-immersion, response and handling instructions. The teacher verifies that the entire sensing region can be immersed at the specified central placement with its tip 1.5 cm above the inner base. Displays and electrical equipment remain dry. A common-water before/after check compares probe response and consistency; it is not calibration. Display resolution is not accuracy. No maker accuracy specification is invented. If these requirements cannot be met, the supplied-data route remains complete.

Covers limit but do not eliminate evaporation or energy transfer. Exposed bases, covers and probe slots remain matched. Room-water conditioning between runs approximates a common initial cup-wall condition; wall temperature is not independently verified. Sensor and position swaps partly balance systematic effects; an odd three runs cannot cancel every bias. Temperature rises provide comparisons under matched amounts/conditions, not calorimetry, total energy, instantaneous transfer rates or proof of a specific mechanism.

Sleeves remain assembled and dry between runs. Wetness, damage, missing readings, drift, spills and changes are recorded and retained. Replacement trials use fresh samples and new IDs. The completed fictional retest intentionally contains a wet-sleeve trial and a logged dry rebuild; it does not establish improvement. No data may be invented to complete an empirical sheet. Small, mixed or procedurally flawed results may remain inconclusive.

Per-phase timing is an author planning estimate of approximately 74 minutes. A 60-minute session may require a supervised continuation for the third trial, fresh consistency checks and record reconciliation. The investigation is not equipment homework.

Applicable school procedures and ordinary adult supervision govern classroom execution. They are distinct from the project's content/methods approval process. This note does not certify every classroom arrangement, instrument or use. No required human content reviewer or teacher pilot is introduced. An unresolved substantive defect must be corrected or P1 held separately from paper resources.

Official sources checked on 30 September 2026:

- [NGSS MS-PS3-3](https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/ms-ps3-3-energy): design/construct/test opportunity, thermal transfer direction and temperature/energy distinction. P1 does not claim full standard coverage or transferred-energy calculations.
- [NGSS MS-ETS1-3](https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/ms-ets1-3-engineering-design): interpreting design evidence using criteria/constraints; informs comparison and redesign tasks.
- [NSTA Safety and School Science Instruction](https://www.nsta.org/nstas-official-positions/safety-and-school-science-instruction): school safety procedures, training and hazard attention; informs operational instructions.

Original prose, tasks, recording tables, constructed values and setup description were authored for this project. No third-party lesson or diagram was reproduced. The release must apply the actual verified project resource license and record independent review separately. No source organization endorses or validates P1.
