More Heat

 Chemistry is beginning Module 2 (Module 12 third edition) which has two experiments: calibrating a thermometer and measuring specific heat.  My kiddos are calibrating thermometers at home and doing a Heat Curve Lab at home—part of Experiment 2.1 (12.1).  We are starting Specific Heat of a Metal in class Tuesday, Experiment 2.2 (12.2).  This lab is going to take some time.  I have several metal cubes and cylinders: copper, iron, aluminum, brass, and zinc.  Ideally, the kiddos are going to repeat the trials for each metal.  We need to check on graphing by hand.  Spreadsheets are another work in progress.  Teens tend to do a calculation and enter the answer, called ‘hardcoding’.  Determining and entering a formula is tricky—as is remembering to label columns with units.  My class will do some graphing with TI 83/84 calculators, too.  All this takes time, apart from simply understanding just what specific heat, calories, joules, and temperature is.  I’m going further and expecting them to compute word problems.  This is going to be a slog.  I’ll keep you updated.