Starter Starter activity sheet – Keeping Warm. Children look at pictures of items that keep/don’t keep us warm. Sort into 2 piles. Introduce project for HOT WATER BOTTLES R US. Next look at pictures of hot water bottles and invite children to discuss which they like best and why. Also talk about the features of a hot water bottles.

Hot Water Bottles R Us need you!

Our company has suffered terrible financial losses due to faulty hot water bottle covers not working. Customers have been returning products and demanding full refunds. If this continues, the company will have no choice but to shut down. We desperately need your help! Your task is to design an amazing, themed hot water bottle that will sell and keep the customers warm and happy. The product must relate to your target market so decide who your customers will be and consider what your design will look like and how your hot water bottle will keep your customers warm and happy.

Selection of suitable and unsuitable materials/fabrics that could be used to cover a hot water bottle. Try out in pairs/fours and record their results on a tick sheet/table. After you have completed each task ask them which they think would be suitable, get them to explain what they understand and why they made those choices.

Keeping Warm Ask do all the materials keep us warm? Introduce the word ‘insulate’ and explain. Ask them what features of the material helps it to keep something warm [insulate]? With these questions have a flipchart and get pupils to be involved in recording their peers ideas

Hot Water Show them the blanket remind them they had this picture in the starter activity sheet Ask them why it keeps us warm? Thicker fabric/type of material Does the thickness/type of fabric make a difference?

Keeping water warm Planning/Discussion Explain to them that you are going to find out which material will keep water warm for the longest time At this point give each pupil a post-it note Ask them to write on their post- it what they think each material will do? Predict which material will keep water warm the longest (differentiation possibility) Get them to stick their post- its up around the room Tell them they are going to put out four cups containing the same amount of warm water. Reinforce fair testing by talking about temperature of water, size of cups/material, amount of water, amount of fabric/layers, etc. Ask them what they think about layers of fabric/amount used. thicker thinner Data Loggers can be used for this task or as an extension to this task!

How does changing the material effect the time it takes for the water to cool down? In a group of four get them to map out ideas on a piece of A3 paper how they could use the work they have done today and their own knowledge to solve this problem. Planning boards may be used [post it planners] 15 minutes Keeping water warm Planning/Discussion