Insulation

This week I conducted an experiment on how well items insulate heat.  As we know hot molecules are in constant search for colder ones until an equilibrium is reached at what we call room temperature (Keenan Fellows, 2013).  The hot air rises out from the water and cold air storms in, this is called convection.  One can feel this first hand when touching something metal in the room.  Because metal is such a good conductor of heat the heat from ones fingertips is drawn out and into the chair.  The release of heat in ones hand makes the object appear to feel cold, even though it is the same temperature as every other object in the room (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008,). 
 Knowing that metal is a good conductor, I knew it would be a very poor insulator.  I tried to use more materials that resembled a houses insulation like fiberglass.  Something that had small pores but did not feel cold to the touch, like a shirt.  However, I stretched the shirt out and with too big of holes it was not a good insulator.  I would like to try to put a shirt loosely over the mug of hot water just as the shirt hangs loosely over us, keeping us warm.

I would also like to try other items out in the mug instead of water.  It would be interesting to see if a denser subject would lose its heat slower than water.  thick syrup or thin watery spaghetti sauce would be interesting to test.  This would make the project more engaging for students as I would want to apply it to their lunches.  How can we keep moms chicken noodle soup warm until lunch?  I would want students to create a lunch box that will be able to keep something warm for up to two hours.

I would want students to not only explore but to engineer a design using the concepts gathered.  I would want them to be able to tell me why a material is a good conductor or a good insulator.   I learned that a good conducer is often a poor insulator.