STEM: Heat Loss ProjectMs. Bormann

Kawameeh Middle SchoolGrade 8 Honors

S – Science: Knowledge of heat transfer, thermal energy and temperature.

T – Technology: PowerPoint Presentation, Digital Thermometers, iPad thermal imaging application.

E – Engineering: Design and construction of model home

M – Mathematics: Calculating temperature and change in temperature.

STEM

How do we use a model to track the movement of thermal energy

in a residential home?

Essential Question

Objectives:• Examination of thermal images to identify

areas of greatest heat loss in residential homes.

• Comparison of temperature data to thermal images looking for patterns of heat loss.

• Improving energy efficiency by insulation your home to prevent heat loss.

How can energy be conserved in your home?

What insulators are used in homes?

What are some insulators that you could use in your model homes that relate to insulators you

researched?

Energy efficient products used in homes?

Part I: Honors ResearchDue: 2/28/14

100 ways to conserve energy in your home

Fiberglass, wool, plastic fibers, concrete, foam board Energy.gov

Solar Energy Energy Efficient Windows

Your Footprint

Energy Star Certified Products

Define Insulator

What materials are good insulators?

What makes these materials good insulators (think in terms of specific heat)?

Define the Law of Conservation of Energy.

Where do you think the most heat loss in your house is?

How can energy be conserved in your home? What materials are used in your homes to insulate your

house?

Part I: ResearchDue: 2/28/14

A material through which thermal energy does not floweasily. Slows the transfer of heat

Glass, wood, plastic, rubber, air, wool, cork, straw, paper

An insulator often has a high specific heat because it takes a lot of energy to change the temperature of that object.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferredor transformed

Ceilings, walls, floors windows, doors and infiltration (air leakage) - website

100 ways to conserve energy in your home

…materials we can use in our home

Fiberglass insulation – noncombustible and does not retain moisture.

Cellulose insulation – shredded newspaper (treated to be fire resistant but not fireproof)

Polyisocyanurate – plastic that contains low-conductivity gas Polyurethane foam – plastic that is sprayed in liquid form and then

expands. Cotton insulation – from recycled clothing treated with Boron (fire

and pest repellant)website

Fiberglass

Cellulose Insulation

Polyisocyanurate

Polyurethane Foam

Cotton Insulation

1. Sketch your house design below using the guidelines given to you. (Make sure you include the proper number of doors and windows in your sketch). You must include 1 door, at least two windows and a pointed roof.

Part II: Constructing a Home

2. Construct a base for your model home using hot glue **WARNING HOT GLUE GUNS AND GLUE GET VERY HOT: DO NOT TOUCH**, and building sticks only. (do not put up walls until the base of your house is constructed) Please see SMART board for house construction instructions.

3. Present your model to be approved by your teacher.4. Once construction is approved, put up the walls using computer paper and glue

only. It is OK to leave cracks between walls and where the roof meets. Make sure to include the following when constructing your walls: 1 Door, at least 2 windows (cut them out before you put them up) and a pointed roof. MAKE SURE TO KEEP THE BOTTOM OF YOUR HOUSE OPEN.

5. Present your model with the walls to be approved by your teacher.6. Set your house over a heat lamp (while teacher is present).**WARNING HEAT

LAMPS GET VERY HOT: DO NOT TOUCH**7. While the house is over the heat lamp use thermometers to measure and

record temperature data at the following locations: Solid wall, open window/door, open corner of the house, and where roof meets.

8. Use iPad thermal imaging application to show where heat is being lost. (Remember – Red shows warm areas, blue shows cool areas). Outline the area where heat is transferred the most in red. Outline the area where heat is transferred the least in blue

Part II: Constructing a Home

Thermal imaging cameras or thermal imagers are devices that translate thermal energy (heat) into visible light (color) in order to analyze a particular object or scene. The image produced by thermal imaging cameras is known as a thermogram and is analyzed through a process called thermography.

How does it work? All objects radiate thermal energy from their surface. Modern

thermal imagers use a detector called a microbolometer to sense this thermal energy.

What is a thermal imager used for? Home Inspections and Energy Audits Electrical and Mechanical Inspections TI website Research and Development Medical and Veterinarian

Understanding Thermal Imaging(and how it works on the iPad)

Instead of the 450-750 nanometer range of visible light we see, infrared cameras operate in wavelengths as long as 14,000nm.

Thermal Imaging Colors

9. The insulator my group is testing is __________________________. 10.Sketch a design on where and how insulator will be used. Use the areas

you discovered in the thermal imaging to decide where your insulator should applied.

Part III: Insulating a Home

12.Present your insulation to be approved by your teacher.13.Set your house over a heat lamp (while teacher is

present).14.While the house is over the heat lamp use thermometers

to re-measure each opening that you originally tested and record temperature data.

15.Use iPad thermal imaging application to show where heat is being lost. (Remember – Red shows warm areas, blue shows cool areas). Outline the area where heat is transferred the most in red. Outline the area where heat is transferred the least in blue

16.Once all of your data is completely filled out complete your conclusion using conclusion tips on the next page and answer the analysis questions also on the next page.

Part III: Insulating a Home

Make sure your title page includes:

Name Period Due Date Title Lab Partners (first and last names)

Rough Draft: Title Page

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is…

Hypothesis: You will be making two GROUP hypotheses. The first hypothesis will be answered before starting the design process. The second hypothesis will be answered after your group has established the insulator they will be using. The questions you will be answering are: Where do you think the most heat loss is going to come

from (door/window, roof, wall cracks) Knowing your insulator - do you think there will still be heat

loss after you insulate?

Rough Draft: Purpose and Hypothesis

To construct a model home and to understand how heat travels and the importance of insulating our homes

Materials: Make sure to list in a bulleted format. Include ALL materials used to design, insulate and construct your model home. You should cross-reference with your lab partners.

Data and Observations: You will fill out the data table provided to you with temperature readings before and after insulation. You will also calculate the temperature change to identify where the most thermal energy was conserved. Also – include any observations you experience and discuss

with your lab group. (Examples: What you would do differently, did any errors occur during construction and insulation, etc)

Rough Draft: Materials, Data and Observation

Conclusion tips: Restate your purpose State and Explain whether your hypotheses were correct or

incorrect (address both hypotheses) Explain how heat travels Which area of the house released the most heat and which area

of the house released the least amount of heat WITHOUT the insulator.

Explain which area of the house released the most heat and which area of the house released the least amount of heat WITH the insulator. (Use data to support your reasoning).

What could you have done differently to better insulate your house? Explain. (would you use other insulators?)

Compare and contrast the heat loss before and after insulating your model home (use data such as temperatures and thermal imaging outlines)

Rough Draft: Conclusion

Analysis Questions: What does the temperature change suggest about

the importance of insulating your own home (before using the insulator and after using the insulator)?

Explain how thermal energy is connected to you – how do you use and benefit from thermal energy?

Why is insulating your house (conserving energy) so important in the WINTER and the SUMMER?

Rough Draft: Analysis

Power Point PresentationGuidelines on what to include:

Title Slide Name of Project Group members names (first and last)

Part IV: Honors Application

Body SlidesEach group will be researching one energy efficient product that will be assigned to them by Ms. Bormann. You will be answering the essential questions provided, but add as much information and knowledge on the product that you would like. You must include but are not limited to 3 slides for this portion of your power point. You must include:

Name of product ________________________. What makes this product efficient? Compare this energy efficient product to its counterpart (the

non-energy efficient product). What are the benefits of this product? What are the disadvantages of this product? By using this product would you be saving a significant amount

of money? Do you think it is worth it to buy into this product? *Include at least 3 pictures throughout this part of your power

point*

Part IV: Honors Application

Body Slides ContinuedCreate a design for an energy efficient product that uses less energy in your home and promote it to the class.

Name of product (any name you want) Product design (can be on power point, poster, sketch,

etc.) Identify how the design is conserving energy New energy efficient products are often expensive –

convince the class why they should buy your product (even if it is a little pricey!)

Conclusion Slide Explain how the STEM lab has helped you realize the

importance of conserving energy.

Part IV: Honors Application

Honors Rubric: Out of 39 Points

STEM Rubric: Out of 30 Points

A Brief History of Fahrenheit and Celsius

Fahrenheit (symbol °F) is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), after whom the scale is named. According to a story and trivia question in Germany, Fahrenheit actually chose the lowest air temperature measured in his hometown Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) in winter 1708/09 as 0°F and “blood heat”, or the body temperature, was set at 100°F. The boiling point of water was then set at 212°F to provide 180 degrees of separation between the freezing and boiling points of water at sea level and standard atmospheric pressure. The scientific definition of the Fahrenheit scale has changed since but the basic range is still used today.

Cross Curricular: Science/German

Celsius (°C), is a scale for measuring temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale in 1742 but in reverse (0 was boiling and 100 was freezing). In 1744, coincident with the death of Anders Celsius, the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) (yes, that one – the father of modern taxonomy) reversed Celsius's scale. He had a custom-made "linnaeus-thermometer" created for use in his greenhouses reverse the original Celsius scale to the one we are familiar with today.

From 1743 until 1954, 0°C was defined as the freezing point of water and 100 °C was defined as the boiling point of water, both at a pressure of one standard atmosphere. This, too, was later refined and redefined with lots scientific “stuff” but the basic scale still stands.

By the end of the 20th century, most countries throughout the world, except in the United States, Belize, Palau and the United States territories of Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, the Celsius temperature scale is used for practically all purposes. The only exceptions are some specialist fields (e.g. low-temperature physics, astrophysics, light temperature in photography) where the closely related Kelvin scale dominates instead. But Kelvin is a whole different story – but it does start at absolute zero where all atomic activity freezes. Brrrrr.

…a brief history continued

In science class – you will create a “Temperature Rainbow” as displayed above. You will include the Celsius scale by 10’s. the Fahrenheit conversions above the bar and the German descriptors for the various temperature ranges listed as headings above the Fahrenheit temperatures. Your science teacher will provide with additional direction.