Experimenting and Learning About Energy (And My Lack of It)

So last night, I foolishly indulged in reading a very good book, past the 3 AM mark.   It was that good.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I couldn't put the book down.   But this morning, I regretted this, as I woke up exhausted and did NOT want to get up and do lessons  or anything that involved thinking.

But there were tests and assessments and projects to turn in and Clay had his first experiment that he had to hand in and be graded on.

Something simple?  Well...

We had to make a thermometer.   My eleven year old had to explain how mass and kinetic energy made a thermometer work.   I couldn't help but see the irony, in the fact that the greater the mass of an object, the more energy it had; because I have plenty of mass, and definitely no energy today.

So we printed off our supplies list and gathered everything together, at which point we discovered we had no metric ruler, aside from my measuring tape for sewing, and a protractor.   Ethan had a ruler that came with his art kit, but when he went to go get it, it was not in his art kit and he had no idea where it was.  And we couldn't find it.  So, we grabbed the protractor.

The list called for a 20 oz drinking bottle, and I searched through our recycling and of course we didn't have any this week.   But then I remembered that I had a half empty bottle in the truck, so I went and got that.  Kaos got excited when I went out, thinking she was going outside too, and began barking and dancing at the gate.   I look at the instructions to see if we need anything else, and realize I need a glass bottle.

I just happened to have a clean maple syrup bottle to recycle, so we used that.  So, we made a maple syrup thermometer.

We also needed red food coloring, and it called for three drops.   So, Clay removes the cap and sticks the dropper in and draws up the coloring.   Then he decides he has too much, so squirts it back in.  He also gets some on the counter.  It immediately stains the counter, but since we have a nice multi colored counter top, the splattered look blends well.

Carefully, we follow the instructions and fill the beaker with water and then add the coloring.  We then pour the mixture into the bottle, which is supposed to be filled to the top.  It fills about one fourth of the bottle.   I start to fill the beaker and then think to myself, "screw it,", and just fill it with tap water and throw some more coloring in.

I mean, we aren't working with reactive chemicals here.   Water and food coloring.   We can skip steps and not go blind or lose a limb in the process.  

So, bottle full.  Check.   Now the instructions say to put the straw in, and leave 10 cm out from the top, and hold in place with modeling clay.   Then add enough colored water so that 5 cm is in the straw.  Finally, top with a drop of cooking oil, to prevent evaporation of water.  

So, now we see if it actually works.   First task is to stick it in hot water, so I boil up the kettle, pour the very hot water in a bowl and set our thermometer in.   Sure enough, it goes to the top. 

My eight year old decided to hang out and observe, but didn't stick around for the written work. Don't mind the dishes that haven't been put away yet or the drool spray the dog has left on the dishwasher.  One thing I learned quickly with our dog was that she drools... ALOT, and when she shakes her head, the drool flies.  So we wipe down appliances and cubboards frequently in this house.  Oh, who am I kidding. I wipe them down.  There is no we. 

Anyway, the next test was to put the thermometer in ice water.  Clay tells me that the water in the straw won't go below the five cm, where it started, but dutifully put the ice water in the bowl and set the thermometer in.  

As you can clearly see, the water DID go below the five cm.  And then we had to mark the lowest point, and the highest point the water went, test two other water temps, and record those temperatures.  Clay had a few pages of questions, one of which was "did you learn anything from this experiment?", to which he shrugged, and told me, "no, I knew what was going to happen,"

I reminded him that he had said that the water would not go below its starting point and he pretended like he couldn't remember making that hypothesis.    He was not impressed with my ability to recall that fact.  By the time we finished this, it was time to make supper.   So tomorrow we'll scan worksheets, and send in the pictures  to complete the assignment.   Thankfully there is flexibility with this program.  

So we have a thermometer!  While I don't recommend it for checking temps when cooking, it does work.   

So that was our first little experiment, which I managed to guide him through relatively successfully.   I think it was neat that he got to visualize how the heat expanded mass, and how the cool water decreased the mass.  Not just reading about it, but seeing it.  

On that note, I'm going to work this "heat expands mass" concept.   Clearly, the fact that I can't lose weight is because I live in a desert, so the HEAT is expanding my mass.  Sounds reasonable to me.