Solar Ovens and Thermodynamics

Howdy howdy howdy!

It's been a fun few weeks in middle school science & engineering (I'll grant you I'm biased).

The crew has been steadily working toward the completion of their Solar Oven project which they were able to demonstrate on Tuesday. We were fortunate to get a beautiful, clear, 75˚ afternoon, and the kids' creations were very effective. We had several produce interior temperatures of over 200˚F, and the s'mores were extra-melty! At least as important as the oven construction was the reflection process, and the class did not disappoint. We had some very thoughtful and thorough written accounts of their processes and the concepts which made their ovens so successful. This will continue to be an emphasis on every design project we tackle.

At the same time, we have continued with our classwork, exploring the laws of thermodynamics and the terminology which describes the transfer of thermal energy. We've distinguished between thermal energy, heat, and temperature, identified how energy travels via conduction, convection, and radiation, and have explored phase changes between solid, liquid and gas. In terms of the latter, we had a good time learning about triple point - the point at which substances can be observed in all 3 states at once - by pressurizing dry ice and watching it liquify before exploding in a beaker of water.

This week, we will take our first in-class test. The students have been using their study guides to prepare and have worked through a dense set of questions on. the reading which has accompanied this unit. While they should be in great shape for this assessment, it's important to note that we value mastery, so students will be encouraged to correct any mistakes for additional credit before we move on to new material.

In terms of what's next, we will be going back in time for the next week or so, exploring the Big Bang and the formation of our solar system. This will give us a better appreciation for geologic time scale. We teased this on Friday as we watched a documentary on the James Webb Telescope and its unprecedented ability to sense light which has been traveling almost as long as our universe has been expanding.  Soon on the horizon, we will be jumping into our tree unit which incorporates a multi-disciplinary project. Students will need a dedicated 3-ring binder for this project, so if they have one around the house which they could reuse, it'd be good to set it aside in advance.

Have a great week!