What's so cool about heat? School experiments.

For inquiry we have been split up in groups across the school and we are doing experiments with different teachers twice a week in the afternoons involving hot or cold.  In Kanuka we are learning about insulation and how the adaptation of blubber helps to keep penguins and other animals in Antarctica warm. 

This experiment involves a participant holding their hand in icy cold water to see how long they can last. We then smother their hand in margarine (acting as the blubber) and cover it in glad wrap (acting as the skin and feathers) to see if they can keep their hand in the water for longer. 

Check out our experiment and results below ... 

Blubber Experiment

Aim: To see if margarine will insulate our hand in icy cold water. 

Hypothesis:

“If you have glad wrap and butter it is a wee bit water in the icy cold water.” - Wyatt

“When you don’t have the glad-wrap and margarine it is colder” Jake

“The margarine will work” - Tarquin

“It will help keep our hand warm.” - Cam

“I don’t know” - Josh

“It will be just as cold with margarine.” - Henry 

Equipment:

Margarine

Icy water

Bowl

Glad Wrap

Knife

Hand

Method:

1. Fill a bowl with icy cold water. 
2. Put bare hand into icy cold water. Time how long participant can keep their hand in water. 
3. Once hand is removed, dry hand off. 
4. Cover hand in margarine and glad wrap. 
5. Put the hand back in the icy cold water. Time how long they can keep their hand in the water. 

Observations/results:

The insulation helped the participants keep their hand in the water for longer.

Participant	Time without insulation	Time with insulation
James	51 sec	3 min +
Felicity	1.32min	2.41 min

“Their hands got colder without stuff on it.” - Cam

“Ice is cold.” - Aimee

“Cold water can’t get through to your skin with margarine and glad wrap.” - Tarquin

“When margarine and glad wrap is over your hand it is warmer in icy cold water” - Henry

Conclusion:

Sea animals like penguins and whales can live in cold placed because their bodies are covered in blubber/fat. This fat acts as a layer of insulation. We also use different forms of insulation to help keep ourselves and our homes warm. These include; layers of clothing, jackets, wetsuits, and pink bats in our walls.