Children's experiment on thermal conductivity

Taking advantage of the fact that in the childhood stage, doubts are generated about the world that surrounds them, it is a propitious moment to carry out experiments, that while having fun, it will also serve to learn about the diverse behaviors that some types of materials have with the transmission of hot.

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In liquids and gases, the heat is conveyed by convection, by the movement of the particles that are near the source of heat, which is heated and rises and are likewise replaced by cooler ones and so on. In the previous experiment on the dancer snake, we observed how this displacement called convection current, it became noticeable that the heat has just been transmitted to the whole mass of fluid.

Now, with this new experiment with pea or pea, the phenomenon of thermal conductivity is demonstrated according to each material that is used. This heat conduction occurs when heat is transferred from a body with a higher temperature to a body with a lower temperature.

The materials to use:

3 Teaspoons (plastic, metal, and wood)
3 Peas or peas
Butter.
Metal Pot

Process

What to do?
Fix a pea on each handle of the spoon, using a little butter, making sure they are all at the same height.

Place the spoons with your peas inside the container, then pour the hot water and wait a few seconds.

What happens?
The butter melts and the peas fall. The first pea that falls is the one that was fixed in the metal spoon; while the other peas fall later.

Why?
The spoons took the heat from the water and transferred it to the butter that melted and dropped the pea. If the peas did not fall at the same time, it is because the materials used do not heat up at the same speed. In this case, metals are good transmitters of heat by conduction, while the plastic, wood or glass spoon does not have the same conductivity, that is, they act as a thermal insulator.

This Video shows the conductivity result:

With this process, it is concluded that the speed with which heat is conducted depends on the thermal conductivity of each material.

For the teacher: For the execution of this type of experiment, it is essential that it is supervised by the adult since the child is very concerned about the curiosity of knowing which of the peas first falls into the water. For this reason, it is important to keep them quiet, avoiding an accident with hot water. To explain the result, it is recommended that the educator support other examples of daily life, in order to expand the knowledge of the student and answer any questions that may arise from this experiment.

There is an example that is sure to please all children and is related to the beach sand that absorbs the heat of the sun and this heat is transferred to our feet when we walk barefoot through the sand.

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It is wonderful to know that with this type of strategy, curiosity in the child is aroused and it impels scientific research at an early age.