Hot bolts

The students investigate how many how metal objects it would take to change the temperature of a cup of water. The students work in their cooperative teams to make a prediction and set up a fair test investigation by measuring the temperature of the water before and after placing hot metals objects into the cup. The students evaluate the investigation by concluding whether the hot metal pieces are heat producers or heated by something else. To conduct this investigation the students will need a thermometer, tongs to pick up the hot bolts, a timer, a polystyrene cup and several hot bolts from a hardware store. The bolts need to be placed in the sun to heat up prior to the lesson. This resource includes a PowerPoint presentation explaining how to conduct the investigation, an accompanying worksheet to record findings and an assessment rubric.