Lesson Plan Title : Keeping It Cold

Age Range:

Grade 3 through Grade 5 (Elementary School)

Overview and Purpose:

Students learn a lot by trial and error. In this lesson students will try to be the ones to keep a popsicle frozen the longest. This is a good activity to do outside on a hot day. Just make sure you pack extra ice pops for the students to eat!

Objective:

The student will be able to work with two other students to create a container that keeps a popsicle cold.

Resources:

Ice Pops

Variety of materials the students can experiment with to create insulation (these can include cloth, paper, foil, bubble wrap, etc)

Metal loaf pans

Activities:

Students will work in teams to try to create a container that will keep their ice pop frozen longer than their classmates. They can use any of the materials provided and the metal pan. After they have made their container, have them place an ice pop in it, and take the containers outside in the sun. Every five minutes have students check their ice pops by pushing on them to see if they are still frozen. When a group's popsicle has melted take some time to look at their container and discuss why it did not keep their ice pop frozen. After all the ice pops have melted go back inside and have the students write in their journals about what they observed.

Closure:

Students can extend this activity by coming back to class and taking apart a variety of different coolers to see why they work so well. They can also write about their ultimate cooler and then build a model of it to share with the class. (For this activity, let the students use their imaginations. The only requirement should be that the cooler could realistically work.)