Investigating Energy: Keep it Cool Design Challenge
By Jason Cervenec, Education & Outreach Director, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
Image source: https://www.flocabulary.com/lesson/heat-transfer/
Have you ever wondered about the science of thermal energy transfer? Especially, why putting on layers in winter keeps you warm, or how a cooler keeps your food cool? Or how an insulated coffee mug keeps liquid hot? Many devices are designed to maintain the temperature of an object without being plugged into an electrical outlet. However, even plugged-in systems, such as refrigerators, use engineered designs and certain materials to reduce the effort needed to maintain a set temperature.
Scientists often use portable thermo-containers to transport materials to a lab site. Ice core samples are a great example of a substance that needs to remain frozen during transport. In order to successfully transport ice cores samples to an electric freezer, they need to be contained in a device that is lightweight, easy to carry in a backpack, and can keep an ice core below freezing for days. The device has to be designed to reduce the transfer of thermal energy from the exterior (which can be warm as it travels on trucks and airplanes) to the interior. The device also needs to limit the transformation of light energy to thermal energy by reflecting light energy instead of absorbing its heat energy.
Here is an example of the mechanics inside a simple thermos to keep liquid hot or cold:
Image source: https://cnx.org/contents/6EiQTxeh@2/Mechanisms-of-Heat-Transfer
Lesson Plan Summary
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) Education and Outreach team created a comprehensive lesson plan which challenges students to utilize their understanding of thermal energy transfer and transformation to develop a simple, lightweight, and efficient method for storing and transporting ice cores. Included in the lesson plan resources are supplemental photos and instructions on how to make a miniature ice core tube. Here is the lesson plan for designing, building, and testing a device to keep an ice core frozen. This activity/lesson can be used when teaching engineering principles or methods for transferring thermal energy.
Resources
Peer-reviewed by: Meghan Thoreau, OSU Extension Educator, Community Development & STEM, Pickaway County.
