Higher:
Creates an experiment that shows a relationship between materials and the strength of thermal conductivity of materials
Middle:
Is able to explain which materials which are best for thermal conductivity of materials
Lower:
Is able to explain how some materials are used to make things because they are thermally conductive
Higher:
Explore materials in your own house which are used to conserve energy and explain why they have been chosen
Middle:
is able to describe how some materials conserve energy
Lower:
Can write a list of materials that are used to make things because they conserve energy
Lesson Recap Starter: Think back to the last lesson. Provide 5 examples of useful substances which can be extracted from natural resources. Identify the substance and the natural resource.
Lesson Starter: Think of ways to save energy in your home.
Ask the children to create a group mind-map or put an idea on a sticky note and add it to the board.
Discuss what climate change is? Why is it important to conserve energy?
Presentation - Starter Slide
Sticky notes
Mini whiteboards
Explore ideas about how conductive various materials are and how energy efficient they can be.
Talk Partners - Explain to one another how we measure the power and temperature of energy.
Challenge - Make a list of all the ways items or products in your house are made to help conserve energy, heat or light.
Answer questions and take part in activities during the presentation. Stop the presentation at the relevant slides: Talk Partners; AfLs; Songs.
Take part in the Choral Response Questions activity (see Assessment section) after the Keywords/Rocket Words slide.
Key Concept:
During this unit, each lesson contains a key concept question housed in the '30 Second Challenge' slide. To help children master this content so the knowledge moves from their short term memory to their long term memory, at the beginning of the follow on lesson the question from the previous lesson is revisited.
The questions covered during this unit include:
1. What are the properties of clay? What are the properties of metal? What are the properties of glass?
2. Based on the properties of the materials explained, which material is best if you want your ball to bounce high and why?
3. Provide 5 examples of useful substances which can be extracted from natural resources. Identify the substance and the natural resource.
4. What is the thermal conductivity of a material? How can we measure the power and temperature of energy?
5. What are Spencer Silver and Ruth Benerito famous for inventing?
6. Explain how to build a perfect sandcastle.
Presentation
Expert Film: Heather Bingham is an expert in the conservation of energy and of resources.
How many ways can you save energy and save materials? Ask pupils to search the 6R's of Sustainability and list what they are.
How we deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks:
2 - Learning from career and labour market information: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about jobs in your area.
4 - Linking curriculum learning to careers: This unit showcases careers that relate to the properties of materials. Access our 360° virtual work tours.
7 - Encounters with Further and Higher Education: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about training providers in your area.
Presentation - Expert Film
Thermal Conductivity
Watch the Lesson Assignment Film for more help with this activity.
Get the children into groups and ask them to take three beakers or clear plastic cups of water, and fill them up with hot (not boiling) water to the same level. Explain to the children that the variable is how the beakers are covered. Ask them to leave one uncovered, wrap one with a layer of tin foil, and one with multiple layers of tin foil wrapped around it. Get the groups to place a small, cardboard lid (with a hole in it) on top of each beaker.
Take a temperature reading at various stages - an example could be one minute, two minutes and five minutes.
Ask the children to use the Handout to record the temperature of the water at these stages. Get them to work out the temperature drop, over time, in each beaker, and document this on their table.
Which beaker lost temperature the fastest?
Which one lost the most temperature overall?
Can the children explain these results?
Beakers
Water
Aluminium foil
Thermometers
Cardboard 'lids'
Stopwatches
Handout
Complete the Handout to identify how thermal conductive materials can be used in buildings to help save energy.
Stretch - The children could make a bar graph comparing the thickness of foil and the time it took for the thermometer to reach the target temperature - write an evaluation of the results.
Handout
Quiz in Presentation
Formative Assessment Forms
Assessment Trays
Thermal conductivity is where...
Materials best used for thermal conductivity are...
The Science Behind the Science
Thermal conductivity is necessary to reduce heat transfer. Different materials exist to improve energy efficiency in buildings. The lower the thermal conductivity of a material, the higher its ability to resist heat transfer. This means that it has a higher insulation effectiveness.
Wood fibre is breathable. It tends to be the by-product of wood chips and old remnants of wood. It is biodegradable, sound-keeping, rarely has toxins, is sustainable and reusable, easily disposed of, and tends to keep moisture to a minimum.
Cellulose insulation material is made from recycled newspaper. This newspaper must be shredded, and organic salts and boric acid are added so that the cellulose becomes resistant to fire, insects and mould too. It is used in both wall and roof insulation is draughtproof and reduces free noise. It is particularly good at thermal conductivity because it is primarily made of large numbers of gas-filled pockets. These pockets prevent larger scale convection. This is because gases tend to have a lower thermal conductivity than, for instance, solid and liquids. This is why gases are really great insulation materials. Obviously, they must be trapped within something to ensure the absence of convection. Therefore, trapping gas within cellulose makes it a good insulation material. Polyurethane foam, aerogel, cellular glass, and stone wool, all function in a very similar way.
Cellular glass comes from recycled glass. Cellular gas is formed between the reaction of glass and carbon at a very high temperature. It is impermeable and has a cellular structure. This means that it is an effective barrier against soil humidity but not a good insulator for wooden flooring.
Hemp fibres are also really useful for energy efficiency and thermal conductivity. They are made from hemp straw that comes from the hemp plant.
Compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal)
Planet Earth - Energy sources and sustainability - I can use my knowledge of the different ways in which heat is transferred between hot and cold objects and the thermal conductivity of materials to improve energy efficiency in buildings or other systems. SCN 3-04a
Taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate
Maths - measuring time and temperature. Maths - drawing graphs and charts.
Grade 6 - Our Environment
