Names:Piper, Amani and Emily

Year 8 Science
Practical Assessment Task

Student-Designed Insulation Experiment 2022

‘There are different types of cups

that cafes use and we are going to
find out the best one keeping
drinks hot using temperature
sensors.

You must have SPARKvue

installed on your iPad/computer.

You will be using a wireless sensor and measuring data in groups. You will submit a practical
report as a pair or a group of three.

1. Open SPARKvue, choose sensor data and press the on button on your sensor.

2. A probe with temperature and the number of your sensor should appear to connect (careful
as there will be many around, choose the correct sensor with the correct number).

3. Set the rate at which it will collect information to once every 15 seconds.

4. On the right-hand side of the screen, choose table and graph as your template.

5. Make sure the Y axis is set to temperature.

6. Each time you press start and stop it will create a new “run”. To see all runs just make sure
they are all ticked.
These equipment and materials will be provided to you:

● Cups made of different materials (At least 3 types)

● Temperature sensor
● Retort stand, boss head and clamp
● Hot water (from a hot water boiler)
● Measuring Cylinder

Method:

Your team will need to design a method to obtain sufficient data to address the aim of the
experiment.

Here are some requirements for your method:

1. The experiment must use the temperature sensor.

2. The length of time for each measurement (of one type of cup) must be 5 minutes.

3. The amount of hot/warm water being measured should not exceed 100ml.

4. All equipment being used must be explicitly stated in the method.

5. The method must be written in PAST TENSE and in third-person.

6. The data obtained should allow you to plot a graph of “Temperature change of water
(°C) against type of cup.”
 GROUP PRACTICAL REPORT

Aim:
To find out the type of material of a cup that is best at keeping the warmth of a hot drink.

Hypothesis:
(A hypothesis is an educated guess about what might happen in an experiment and what might be found out. Use the
format “If… then…” to write your hypothesis.)
If boiling water is poured into three different cups, then the paper cup will lose the most
amount of heat, acting as a conductor and the plastic cup will lose the least amount, acting as
an insulator.

Materials and Method:

(The method or procedure is a description of everything that you did in the activity, in a numbered list. A labelled diagram is a good way
to describe how equipment was set up [you can attach this separately]. This section is always written in past tense and in third person
(passive) language.)

Step 1: Set up the experiment: to do this, set up the boss head and clamp on the retort stand.
Make sure this is secured tightly.
Step 2: Through the Sparkvue app, connect the temperature sensor. Then place the
temperature sensor in the clamp, making sure it will not fall out. Also make sure the
temperature sensor is placed low enough to be able to touch the water that will be measured
for temperature.
Step 3: Before beginning the experiment, make sure the timer on the sparkvue app is set to
record the temperature of the water each 10 seconds for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Place the styrofoam cup under the stand, allowing the temperature sensor to go
inside.
Step 5: Pour 100 ml of water at 100°C into the styrofoam cup. As soon as it is poured in, begin
the timer of five minutes on the sparkvue app, making sure the temperature sensor and water
are in contact.
Step 6: Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the final paper and plastic cup.
Step 7: Take a screenshot of Sparkvue results.

Materials:
clamp
retort stand
 boss head
paper cup
styrofoam cup
plastic cup
measuring cylinder
hot water
temperature sensor

Results Table and Graph

Temperature of water (°C)

Time (min)
Paper cup Plastic cup Styrofoam cup

0 70.5°C 56.8°C 72.0°C

1 68.2°C 56.4°C 70.9°C

2 65.4°C 54.9°C 68.8°C

3 63.2°C 53.3°C 66.4°C

4 60.9°C 51.8°C 64.5°C

5 58.7°C 50.3°C 62.4°C

Fill in the table below. Use the data above to help you find the answers.
Temperature
Start End Rank the speed of
change of
Type of cup temperature temperature temperature change
water
(°C) (°C) (1 fastest to 3 slowest)
(°C)
Paper 71°C 59°C 12°C heat loss 1

Plastic 57°C 50°C 7°C heat loss 3

Styrofoam 72°C 62°C 10°C heat loss 2
(Plot a best-fit line graph of “Temperature change of water (°C) against type of cup”
separately on graph paper. The independent variable is plotted on the x-axis while the
dependent variable is plotted on the y-axis)
Discussion: (Analyse the results and the method used and discuss how accurate you think the results are. In some
investigations, there will be questions to answer, which form the discussion.)

1. Were the results what you expected? Explain. (If the results were not what you
expected, why do you think they were different? Explain.)
The results were expected with an accurate hypothesis. The plastic cup did act as an insulator
only losing 7°C and the paper cup acted as a conductor losing the highest amount of
temperature at 12°C.

2. What were the independent and dependent variables in this experiment? What was their
relationship?
The independent variable was the types of cups and the dependent variable was the change in
the temperature of the water. Their relationship was that the type of cup controlled the degree
of heat loss from the water.

3. State 3 controlled variables in the experiment.

Three controlled variables were the volume of water (100ml) placed into each cup, the
temperature sensor and the time the water was left to cool (5 minutes).

4. State 1 variable that was not controlled in the experiment. Explain why it could have
affected your results.
A variable in this experiment that was not controlled was the size of the cups. This could affect
our results as all cups have a different surface area on the base and sides. The larger the
surface area, the more exposed the particles are to air. If particles are more exposed to air in
one cup, then they could cool down faster. The cups also have different thickness which would
affect heat loss. Thicker cups would have a larger amount of particles which would potentially
slow down heat loss.

5. Describe how you would redesign the experiment to ensure that this variable is
controlled.
The three cups of different materials could be of the same size and dimensions. This could
affect our results, making them more reliable as all cups would have the same surface area on
the base and sides, the same thickness and equal exposure to air.

6. Describe how you would improve the design of the experiment to ensure that the results
were reliable. (Refer back to your class notes – “How can the reliability of data be
improved?”
To do the experiment multiple times to find an average. This would help to ensure there are no
outliers in the experiment as well as removing any false information.

7. Describe one safety hazard in this experiment and how the risk of injury from this
hazard be reduced.
One safety hazard is the boiling water. This could be reduced by ensuring proper safety
equipment. To ensure you are as safe as possible all members in the group should wear gloves to
not only protect themselves when touching the measuring cylinder the water is in, but also in
case the water was to spill. Reducing likeliness of burns.
Conclusion:
(The conclusion is a summary of what you found out in the experiment. It answers the aim.)

Claim: (Which cup was the best at keeping the water hot?)

The hypothesis was supported in saying that the plastic cup would be able to keep the most
warmth out of the three. The least heat was lost from the plastic cup and the most heat was
lost from the paper cup.

Evidence:
(How do you know? Use the numerical data obtained in the experiment to show which cup was
best at keeping the water hot.)

This was shown as the plastic cup only lost 7°C over the five minute period, the least amount of
heat loss, in comparison to the paper cup that lost 12°C and lastly the styrofoam cup that lost
10°C.

Reasoning:
(Why was this cup best at keeping the water hot? Use words related to heat transfer in your
answer.)

The plastic cup was the best acting insulator because it has strong bonds and it can hold the
particles rigidly in place. Since particles in an insulator don't move around easily, the amount of
energy that is transferred to other particles is minimal. This prevents particles from gaining
energy and increasing the temperature. Thus they keep the heat of the water bound and
compacted together in a cup. In comparison to the paper cup that was the strongest conductor
out of the three. This meant that heat was easily able to flow from one particle to another that
needed heat. Thus resulting in the biggest change in temperature.7
Science Practical Assessment Criteria

Students’ Name: Piper, Amani and Emily.

Title: Student-Designed Insulation Experiment 2022

Criteria Excellent Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Unsatisfactory

(4) (3) (2) (1) (0)
Knowledge and understanding Comprehen Mostly Some Limited Not shown
of content - terms, concepts and sive and detailed.
relationships, relevant to detailed.
Scientific Investigations
Application of concepts Complex Mostly Some Limited Not shown
relevant to Scientific accurate
Investigations
Accurate use of terminology & Accurate Mostly Somewhat Limited Inaccuracies
conventions relevant to practical and accurate accurate and accuracy and and largely
reporting and Scientific thorough. and partly incomplete. incomplete.
thorough. incomplete.
Investigations
Interpretation, analysis & Comprehen Mostly Some use of Little use of No use of or
evaluation of data sive use of good use results results reference to
results. of results. data.

Practical application of Detailed Accurate Some Incomplete or No results

scientific procedure - ability to and accurate inaccurate and/or poor
complete task with care and accurate. application
collect accurate data.

Excellent
Score:
Very good ___
20
Good

Satisfactory

Unsatisfactory